The Matrix Returns
by DigiScanner-Shonen
Summary: 17 years after 'Revolutions', Magna, along with the crew of the Metatron, must find the answers to his cryptic dreams or face the destruction of not only the Matrix...but the Real World as well. R
1. Jake Manson: MAGNA

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the Matrix, nor do I own the concept. Each chapter will act as a scene, and hopefully will try to be updated biweekly or so. This may feel like the same old story told over again, but I'll leave that for you to decide. Now, prepare to go back down the rabbit hole…

**The Matrix Returns**

**By DigiScanner-Shonen**

**Program Start: Jake Manson/MAGNA

* * *

**

Again, the dreams…

The mysterious black man in a trench coat and sunglasses. The coloured pills in his hands. Taking the pill that was coloured red. Then, an explosion of green code raining all around the dreamer. Faces that seemed foreign, yet familiar flew past. Machines that looked like squids flying down pipelined tunnels. Red glowing pods with people attached to wires inside them. Endless fields of the pods are being harvested by giant machines. Then, a man. A dark, smartly dressed man whose face lunged at the dreamer in an attempt to swallow him whole.

Then, he'd wake up.

He had this dream before. He'd had it for the last sixteen years. First it was every few months, then every few weeks, and now every day. Every night it haunted him like a predator constantly circling its prey. Even though he had council from Sati, also known as "Oracle", that his dreams were meant for a purpose, he didn't want them. He didn't want to know that purpose. He just wanted to forget it all and try and be content with his life.

Jake Manson was sixteen, had greyish-silver hair, blue eyes, a strong physical build from doing martial arts and was orphaned at an early age when his parents died in a tragic car accident. With his only family gone, he didn't know what do to. Escaping from the orphanage where he was sent following his parents' death, he was found by the man called Seraph. He took Jake with him and gave him a home with himself and the young woman called Sati the "Oracle". He'd been living with them ever since then.

Jake took to Seraph like white on rice. He'd always pick Jake up after school and they'd do some training before heading home to Sati. Seraph taught him martial arts, how to hack into computers, and on the odd occasion, would take him out into town for dinner. To Jake, Seraph was the father he never had.

When he told Seraph and Sati about the dreams, Sati told him that it served a purpose and would reveal itself when the time came. Seraph, however, taught him how to hack into computers. When asked why he did this, he'd reply that he was starting Jake on a path to the truth. Confused, but eager to get rid of the dreams, Jake would hack into computers every night under the hacker name "Magna" trying to find answers. That's when he found him.

Morpheus. The black man in the trench coat in his dreams. According to police and government reports he was seen throughout Mega City, but always somehow managed to elude the authorities. He had been caught once, but escaped with the help of some "fellow terrorists" as the reports called them. The reports said that he was possibly the most dangerous man alive, but Jake didn't believe a word of it. He somehow knew that Morpheus was anything but dangerous and had spent almost half his life searching for him.

He'd try again tonight to look for Morpheus, the key to his dreams.

"Hey! Manson!"

Jake snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see a friend of his coming to greet him on the steps where he sat. Elias Wilson, a fellow sixteen-year-old with brown hair and brown eyes to match, took a seat next to Jake.

"Glad school is over?" Elias asked.

"Of course!" Jake replied, "I couldn't wait to get out of Mr. L's English class."

"I know! 'You must seek the meanings within the meanings'? Come on!"

"Yeah, it is kinda stupid."

"You waiting for him again?"

"Yeah, he's my ride. What about you? Don't you have to catch a bus back home?"

"In a minute. So…they find her yet?"

"Find who?"

"You know…_her._"

"Oh…no, not yet."

The girl they were talking about was Jenna Forrester. She was about their age, if not older by a few months. He'd had a thing for her since coming to high school. She'd disappeared from Mega City a few months ago. The authorities believed her to be kidnapped by the terrorists led by Morpheus, but Jake didn't believe it. He'd seen her a few times during his hacking times in a photo or two, looking completely different from how she used to look.

"Don't worry, buddy," Elias said, putting his arm around his friend, "They'll find her. Then she'll be back with all of us again and you and her can do some smooching to celebrate."

"Come off it, lover boy," Jake shoved his hand straight into Elias' puckering mouth and then Elias removed his arm from Jake's shoulder, "She'd never be interested in me."

"I don't know. I did see her smile at you once or twice."

"I said come off it. Anyway, what about you and Mariana?"

"Things are going great. I was planning to ask her to the dance a couple weeks from now."

"Cool."

Jake saw a black car pulling up to the front of the high school and reached for his backpack beside him. As the car stopped, Jake could identify Seraph as the driver.

"There's my ride. I gotta go."

"See you tomorrow?" Elias asked.

"Of course!" Jake said as he and Elias brought their fists together in a sign of farewell before Jake started off toward the car, "Later!"

"Later!" Elias called as Jake got in the car with Seraph and drove off.

* * *

"How was school?" Seraph asked as he drove on the highway. 

"Fine, sensei," Jake replied in his usual way. Looking at the cars passing down below, Jake thought back to the dream and all it's mysterious components. But nothing more unnerving than that man trying to swallow him. Jake shuddered at the thought of it.

"You can't sleep well?"

"Not really."

"The dream again?"

"Yes. It's getting worse and more frequent. Now I have it during the day."

"…"

"Do you think Sati baked us some cookies today?"

"We'll find out after training."

"Seraph, I don't really feel like training today."

"You have to. You never know when…"

"Yeah, yeah. 'You never know when an enemy will appear and you'll have to fight'. I know, I know, I know," Jake growled, "We've been training too much lately. Don't you think we deserve a break?"

"No. A warrior must always be prepared."

"Yeah, I know."

There was silence between them for a while as the highway ended and Seraph drove them into Chinatown, where a dojo awaited them.

"You know…" Seraph began.

"…?"

"Maybe I could see if we could go out for dinner tonight…"

"Really?" Jake asked with a sense of hope in his voice.

"If…"

"If…?"

"If you do well in your training today."

"Of course," Jake sighed, "Of course I'll do well."

Seraph pulled up in front of the dojo and stopped the car. After getting out, Jake and Seraph took some wrapped packages out of the car and took them into the dojo. Unwrapping them on the wooden floor after taking off their shoes, they found a pair of swords, some sais and some staffs. Quickly changing into his training uniform, which looked just like Seraph's, Jake took his place on the floor of the dojo. Seraph quickly took his place a good distance from Jake.

Both of them bowed to each other, keeping their eyes on each other. Both then raised their arms to chest level and covered their right fists with their left hands.

"Are you ready?" Seraph asked.

"Yes, sensei," Jake said, trying to clear his mind enough to beat his mentor.

"Then let us begin."

Seraph rushed up to his opponent and thrust his fist towards Jake's face. Jake moved his head to the side, grabbed Seraph's extended arm and tried to use his foot to flip Seraph onto the ground. Seraph saw this and swiftly used his other arm to push Jake away. Jake flew back a couple of feet and awaited Seraph's next move. The Chinese martial artist came over with his elbows pointed to his student, who blocked them with both his hands and pushed Seraph back. Not giving him an inch, Jake quickly moved behind him and used his foot to trip Seraph up. Seraph fell onto his back, but used his feet to kick Jake's chest and sent the boy towards the dojo wall. Jake hit the wall, got the wind knocked out of him and while trying to breathe some air back into him, Seraph used his legs to push himself back to a standing position and rushed at Jake with an extended arm which ended in a fist. Jake dodged the fist again and circled behind Seraph. Wrapping himself around his teacher's back, Jake thought he found the one safe place where'd he be safe from his sensei's attacks.

But he was wrong.

Seraph did a black-flip, but Jake still held onto him. Doing several more back-flips, Jake lost his sense of up and down and lost his grip on Seraph. Falling onto the floor, Jake quickly recovered, but gained a sense of dizziness. Seraph took this as his opportunity and struck Jake's neck with a knife-hand. Jake fell unconscious and the teacher thought he had won, but before a moment had passed, Jake's opened and he used his own knife-hands to strike the back of his teacher's legs, forcing Seraph to his knees. Jake slid from underneath Seraph and grabbed an unwrapped sword from where he and Seraph had put the weapons. Tossing the other sword to Seraph, Jake readied himself for the next round.

"'It is unfair when the opponent has an advantage. True warriors fight as equals'," Jake quoted, "Isn't that right, Seraph-sensei?"

"Of course," Seraph smiled as he got up, brandished his sword and engaged Jake in a duel of swords. The two immediately began thrusting, parrying, dodging and defending their swords. The quick movements between master and student were astonishing to witness.

Just as Jake thought he was getting the upper hand, Seraph knocked his sword away and aimed it at Jake's throat. Looking around the room quickly for some other weapon, Jake suddenly had no time to think as Seraph thrust his sword toward him. Jake took out two sais from his training outfit and caught Seraph's sword in them.

"I grabbed them when I was quoting you earlier," Jake said, "What do you think?"

"Fast movements you have, but what if your opponent has the same thing?" Seraph said as he pulled the sword from the sais, threw it aside and pulled out an identical pair of sais from his uniform. Not wasting a moment, Seraph attacked. Jake used his own sais to counter Seraph's and the two resumed the battle.

Attacking, countering and ducking each other's sais, the pair circled the room twice, back and forth each at least once, during the sai fight. Seraph spun around and tried to attack, but Jake copied his movements and they ended up in a stalemate. Spinning his sais, Jake caught Seraph's weapons and threw both of theirs away before dropping to Seraph's knees and tried a sweeping kick on Seraph. Seraph jumped to avoid it and in response tried to sweep kick Jake, but Jake avoided it in the same manner. Resorting to fist fighting, Jake and Seraph circled the room again using their arms and fists to attack each other.

Finally getting back to the spot where he got the weapons, Jake grabbed the black wooden staff and used it to hit Seraph's neck. When he should've fallen unconscious, Seraph jumped over Jake, grabbed the second staff and prepared to face his pupil in a staff fight. Their sticks clashed many times as teacher and student fought with their last artificial weapons. Jake was more experienced with staffs as weapons, but Seraph was no slouch when it came to staffs. Almost two minutes of pure clashing, dodging and defending passed when Jake thought it was time to show his teacher just how good he was.

Jake started to move faster with his staff and was able to strike Seraph in several different places.

"You're wasting too much energy," Seraph stated during the fight, "You're leaving yourself open."

"You're the one to talk!" Jake said through gritted teeth as he continued his offence on Seraph.

_Wh-what? What's that!_

Jake saw a stream of green code flowing down the edge of the dojo wall. Blinking at the sight of it, the code was gone.

_What the hell was that?_

While Jake saw this, Seraph attacked Jake, taking this opportune moment. Seraph slipped his staff through the empty space between Jake and his weapon and pulled hard on his staff. Jake's staff broke free of Jake's grip and the teenager was left defenceless. Seraph brought the staff down on Jake's head, but Jake thrust his arms up to catch it. What he caught was empty air, however, as Seraph tripped Jake using the staff and the boy spilled onto the floor. Seraph aimed his staff straight at Jake's neck and Jake closed his eyes, waiting for his teacher to finish it.

"You were leaving yourself too open when you fought me with the staff. You only copied my movements with the sais. You were too offensive with the swords. You tried to dodge and sweep me too many times in hand-to-hand," Seraph scolded him, "You were distracted just now. If this was a real fight, you would be dead right now."

Jake listened to his teacher as he reviewed in his mind the fight that had just gone on. And he knew, as always, that his teacher was right.

"Unless you come at me with the intent to kill, you will neverdefeat me."

Seraph then threw his staff to the side and Jake opened his eyes. He stood up to face Seraph, who took the starting position they took at the beginning of all training.

"That is all for today."

Jake was shocked.

"But Seraph-sensei, we always go half an hour at least for training," Jake noted.

"Not today," Seraph said simply.

"Oh…okay," Jake said, not wanting to extend the training session. Both opponents bowed and Jake went to inspect the wall where the green code had appeared.

"What are you looking for?" Seraph asked.

Jake searched the wall, feeling it with his hands and looking at it closely with his eyes. When he saw nothing, he left it alone.

"…nothing, sensei."

"Then go change."

"Yes, sensei," Jake said as he left to change.

"And I'll see if we can go out for dinner tonight."

"But what about you saying that we could go out only if I focussed on my training?"

Seraph smiled. "But you did."

Jake stood puzzled for a moment, but then realised what Seraph was saying and smiled back.

"I'll be right back," Jake said as he went to go change.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Jake cried as he and Seraph entered Oracle's apartment. 

"Magna! Seraph!" a little girl cried as she ran up to hug the two boys. She was about five years old with light skin, blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore her hair tied back into a ponytail. Like Jake, she was orphaned and was taken in by Seraph. But whereas Seraph took care of Jake, Sati/Oracle took care of Resa. She was overjoyed to see her friends back again.

"I'm not Magna," Jake told the little girl, "That's my computer name."

"Oracle, Oracle! Magna and Seraph are back!" the little girl shouted as she ran down the hallway.

"She never listens to you," Seraph mused.

"I know. But I guess that's part of what makes Resa so cute," Jake said. Resa's full name was Teresa Loewy, but Jake, Seraph and Oracle called her Resa.

Resa came back holding that hand of a young woman who looked to be from somewhere in the Middle East. Her hair was olive black, her skin was tanned, her eyes were brown and she wore a gentle smile on her face. Around her was an apron and underneath it was a pair of overalls and a light-coloured shirt.

"Hey, Sati," Jake said as he moved to give her a hug.

"Her name's not Sati, it's Oracle!" Resa said, matter-of-factly.

"It's okay, sweetheart. He can call me Sati if he wants," Oracle told Resa, "Now go see if the cookies are ready."

"Yay!" Resa ran off.

"We missed you today, Jake."

"I was only gone for a few hours, like every other day," Jake said as he took off his shoes and put his backpack in his room.

"How was school?"

"Good, as usual."

"Was sparring with Seraph good?"

"Ah…yeah, yeah, it was…" Jake said hesitantly.

"What happened?" Oracle asked.

"It was kind of weird. While we were fighting, I saw something out of the corner of my eye."

"What did you see?"

"Green…symbols."

"Symbols?"

"Yeah, like numbers and letters only backwards. It was the same code that I see in my dreams."

Both Oracle and Seraph exchanged looks.

"What? What's wrong?" Jake asked.

"Nothing, dear. Nothing."

"But Sa-"

At that moment, Resa came marching in proudly. "The cookies are done!" she exclaimed with joy.

"Oh, excellent. I'll come with you to get them out of the oven," Oracle said as she moved with Resa.

"But Sati!" Jake exclaimed.

"You need to start on your homework," Seraph told him.

"…yeah."

"Hey, Magna?" Resa asked.

"It's _Jake,_ Resa."

"Yeah, Jake. You said that Magna was your computer name?"

"I did."

"You mean the computer that has the blue screen with weird text on it about a 'system crash'?"

Jake went pale. "Oh shit!" Jake screamed as he rushed to his room.

"You said a bad word…" Resa gasped, "Oracle! Oracle! Magna said a bad word!"

Jake didn't have time for Oracle's scolding. He immediately sat down at his computer and began typing frantically.

"Come on, baby, come on. Don't die on me now…" Jake pleaded. He couldn't have a system crash on his computer! It had all the data on Morpheus' sightings! He reset his computer and prayed that he hadn't lost any of the important data.

He held his breath as the computer start-up screen finished.

On it was a message:

SYSTEM CRASH

DATA INACCESIBLE

VIRUS DETECTED

ALL FILES ERASED

"SHIT!" Jake screamed from the top of his lungs. He sat in depression. All of it. His articles, his photos, his files. Gone. All because of some stupid virus that infected his computer. It would take months to get the computer back up to its regular efficiency and get all those files back.

He felt like crying. And he was about to when something made him look up. The screen was black and the computer was shut off. How could that be? He hadn't shut it off yet! He tapped the power button, but nothing happened.

"What the…?"

Then, a message slowly appeared on the screen in green digital letters:

_**CAN YOU HEAR ME, MAGNA? **_

Jake was confused at first. This was impossible! How could his computer be receiving a message when it was shut off? And how did someone know what his hacker name was? But the message was there, clear as daylight. Maybe he had finally gone crazy. He pinched himself to try and wake up, but the message was still there. Again, it repeated:

_**CAN YOU HEAR ME, MAGNA? **_

Unsure of what to do, Jake just stared at the computer. In partial bemusement, Jake typed three letters into the computer which showed up in the same format as the message:

_YES. _

"This is too weird…" Jake muttered to himself as a new message appeared on his otherwise black screen:

_**THE MATRIX HAS YOU. **_

"The…Matrix…?" He typed back:

_THE WHAT HAS ME? _

_**YOU'RE NOT ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION. **_

_WHAT SHOULD I BE ASKING, THEN? _

_**YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO ASK. **_

Jake thought about it for a moment. He wasn't asking the right question? Maybe if he rephrased it.

_I AM CAPTURED BY WHAT? _

A beat. Then:

_**THAT'S STILL NOT THE RIGHT QUESTION. **_

This puzzled Jake. First the dream, then the code appearing in the dojo, now this…

The dream! Of course!

Remembering the dream, he suddenly seemed to remember something that he hadn't realised before. It was a word that was repeated throughout the dream without him noticing. And it was just displayed on the computer. Jake typed the rephrased question that he somehow knew all along he was asking:

_WHAT IS THE MATRIX? _

He waited for a reply.

_**THAT WAS THE RIGHT QUESTION. **_

"Jake, honey? You in there?" came Oracle's voice as she walked into the room. Jake turned around to face her before quickly spinning back to the computer, only to find the words gone.

"What…?"

"What is it?" Oracle asked with concern.

"Nothing, Sati, nothing. Did Seraph tell you about the idea to eat out tonight?"

"Yes. We're eating in Chinatown tonight."

"Great!"

"I heard that you said a bad word in front of Resa."

"Oh…yeah. I'd better apologise to her."

"But first, have a cookie. Chocolate chip, freshly baked," Oracle said as she handed him a chocolate chip cookie. Just smelling it made Jake's mouth water. Taking a bite, he savoured the taste. The chocolate was still gooey, just baked.

"Now, let's go apologise to Resa," Oracle said.

"All right," Jake said as he stood up and left the computer. Leaving the room, he stared back at the computer and remembered the strange message conversation he just had. All of what had happened lately seemed to click in his mind and he found that all of his answers didn't lie with the man Morpheus, but rather the answer to the question he just asked:

"_What is the Matrix?_"

* * *

So, did it make for a good first chapter? Would you like to see more of it more often? Why don't you drop me a review or two telling me how you liked it? And look for part 2 soon! 


	2. Rush Hour

**Program 2: Rush Hour**

It seemed as if this guy would never pick up on what she was trying to tell him. She just had this one chance to talk to him and warn him about the Matrix. Wearing tight black leather jeans, a red sleeveless shirt, a short black overcoat that reached down just to the top of her thighs, and heel boots, she waited for his next idiotic response; tapping impatiently on the edge of the keyboard as she kneeled next to the system. Her hazel eyes were hidden behind a pair of transparent sunglasses, and her black hair was cut just a bit above shoulder length with her front bangs that dangled on either side of her face died blond. Then, his next message appeared:

_WHAT IS THE MATRIX? _

She let herself smile a little, in spite of her position and typed back:

_**THAT WAS THE RIGHT QUESTION. **_

A vibrant ring from her phone stopped the soldier from typing. Picking it up, she replied:

"Yeah?"

"_They pinned you guys. You gotta get out of there now! They'll be there any minute!"_

"Got it. Do you have an exit?"

"_Had one ready all along. Main Street by the highway, a pay phone just outside the bank."_

"We'll be there."

She hung up and put her cell phone that connected her with the Operator in the Real World in one of the pockets in her clothes. Afterwards, she quickly shut down the computer system at which she had tried to warn Magna and got up.

"They've tracked us down. They'll be here any minute," the computer girl told the three others in the room with her.

The three others were the only other members in her crew that could jack into the Matrix, all older than the hacker, possibly in their thirties while the girl at the computer was still in her teens. One, a fellow Caucasian female, wore a similar design to the hacker, except that her overcoat came to her knees, her sleeveless shirt was black and she wore army-style boots; her hair was brown and cut just below the ears while her eyes were blue and just a little cold. Another was a black man, shaved bald and wore a long leather overcoat along with a kind of business suit with a purple vest and tan tie; his eyes hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses. The final member, a Japanese man, dressed in a long-sleeved white martial art jacket, with black pants and combat boots; his dark eyes filled with a kind of fighting spirit and his black hair tied back in a short pony-tail.

"Shit…" the older girl swore silently.

"Did you at least warn him?" the black man asked.

"No. But he finally got on to what I was saying about the Matrix," the computer girl answered.

"We've got no choice. We must evacuate and attempt to contact Magna at another time."

"How do you suggest we do that, Morpheus?" the Japanese man asked, "They've been watching him since he was born. They know he has the gift, and they know we can't get to him first. He's on the other side of the Matrix and they have a closer shot at catching him."

"Kage, what did I say?"

Kage paused and remembered what Morpheus had told him when he first recruited him to serve on board his new ship.

"Yes, sir. Of course I do, sir."

"Good man," Morpheus said simply, "Now, first we have to get to the exit and then relocate closer to Magna. Valkyrie, you and Kage go on ahead to the exit. Ophani and I will remain here to eliminate the evidence."

"Yes, Captain," the older woman said as she and Kage moved to leave the room in which they were attempting to contact the sixteen-year-old boy.

"Morpheus…?" Ophani asked.

"Yes?"

"Why did you choose this room to contact Magna in? Why not somewhere that's not so public? Anyone could come in and find out our activites."

"There's no need to worry about that. This room is permanently booked, thanks to some hacking by our Operator. And also…it's for sentimental reasons…"

"…?"

"We used this room all the time to watch over him…especially her…"

"Who, sir?" Ophani asked, but Morpheus seemed too withdrawn into his own thoughts to be asked.

Before Morpheus could answer, there came a mighty knock on the door followed by a deep voice:

"Open up in there! This is the police!"

"We've got to get out of here," the captain spoke softly, shaken from his thoughts, "Ophani, stay behind that door so when it opens, you'll have a surprise attack."

"Right away," Ophani followed Morpheus' commands and hid behind the door. A few mighty thumps from behind the door and soon three policemen stood in the doorway, pointing their guns at Morpheus.

"Freeze, terrorist!" the lead officer yelled, "Hands in the air! Now!"

Morpheus slowly raised his hands up into the air as the police eased into the room.

"Now come here, nice and slow."

Morpheus complied and began to walk slowly toward the officers.

"Morpheus, you're under arrest for secretly plotting against the city, kidnapping and murdering its inhabitants, the deaths of many officers and single-handedly heading up the terrorist organization known as 'Zion'."

Morpheus just smirked at this statement. He had done much, much more than just what the officer listed.

"You're coming with us. Now let's go…"

At that moment, Ophani swung the door closed and leapt at the nearest police officer, pulling a gun from her overcoat. Sticking it straight in the officer's face, she pulled the trigger and let the officer fall dead. While the other two officers were dazed, Morpheus jumped into the air and leapt over them. When he landed, he used a knife-hand to knock one officer out while Ophani kicked the final officer square in the face and sent him sprawling to the floor.

"C'mon," Morpheus ordered as they left the room and dashed down the hallway. Following the hallway until the end of it, they dashed inside an empty room, opened a window and leapt out onto a steel balcony.

"We'll never make it to Main Street before the Agents start appearing," Ophani noted as they jumped off the balcony and into the alleyway. They continued to run until they came to the street in which people and cars were passing, "We're not fast enough on foot."

"Then we'll go by car," Morpheus said as he spotted an empty blue sports car next to a pay booth. They got in swiftly and Morpheus took out his phone, calling the Operator back on the ship.

"_Operator," _came the familiar voice.

"Link, I need a hotwire to a sports car…" Morpheus voice trailed off as Ophani began to hotwire the car herself. As soon as she heard the engine start, she sat back in the passenger seat. The captain responded, "Actually, cancel that. Are Kage and Valkyrie out?"

"_Not yet. According to the map, they're about halfway to Main Street."_

"Right. Have the exit ready for when we get there."

"_Always do."_

Morpheus hung up the phone, pulled the car out of park and drove off into the street. Since it was the afternoon, it was 'Rush Hour' in Mega City and everyone was eager to get home. Before long, Morpheus and Ophani were caught in traffic.

"Just perfect," Ophani said sarcastically, "Why don't we do this at night when it's less crowded?"

"No time for that now. Here they come," the captain said as he looked in the rear-view mirror and saw a police car just a few meters behind them, "We'll take Industrial Ave. to the Macdonald Tunnel."

"That takes us too close police headquarters. There's no way we can go by undetected."

"We have to chance it, Ophani. Trust me."

"…yes, sir…"

As soon as the traffic let up, Morpheus turned the car to the left and began the route to Industrial Ave.

* * *

Back aboard the Metatron which was parked in a neutral zone between the Humans and the Machines deep in the Tunnels of the Real, Link watched the computer screens feverishly as Morpheus, Ophani, Kage and Valkyrie tried to escape the Matrix. Although Link had come to trust Morpheus over the years he served with him, he still was kind of nervous when Morpheus would ask Link to trust him on a risky maneuver.

When the Nebuchadnezzar was destroyed by a Sentinel Bomb years ago, Morpheus and Link were left without access to the Matrix and were reassigned to oversee Zion's continued development now that a peace had come between Humans and Machines. A couple of years ago, they were given a new ship: 'The Metatron' named after an archangel in mythology. With only a crew of two, they had to recruit at least one more person before they were considered a real crew. Recruiting Valkyrie who became the lieutenant, taking over the position Trinity once held herself, the Metatron took off and now aided in escorting more and more people who wanted freedom from the Matrix to Zion.

Adding to the Metatron's crew was Taurus, a friend of Link's who became the pilot and mechanic of the ship; Kage, who became the ship's unofficial 'cook' and trainer; and Ophani, who Morpheus freed just a few months ago and became technician for all the technology aboard the ship. While the crew followed Morpheus' orders exactly, a couple of them were somewhat doubtful of his ways. Mostly Kage and Ophani, who were not really too strong of believers, but they complied with his orders nonetheless. Now the crew hoped to add another member to their ranks: Magna.

Magna had a special gift that no one else in the crew seemed to have. Link and Morpheus had got a glimpse of it in the past with Neo when he was still alive, and Morpheus hoped to free Magna in order to train him to understand his gift and also use it to help them in their campaign to free more and more humans, as well as stop the power struggle within the Matrix.

"Any of them jacked out, yet?" a voice asked as Link turned away momentarily from the controls. He saw Taurus, his friend who had volunteered for the Metatron coming to the control center. Taurus was in his mid-twenties and lived up to his name: he was as strong and stubborn as a bull. Taurus had green eyes, unusual for someone in this age, greasy red hair and spoke with a kind of Spanish accent. He was dressed in the usual clothing for a mechanic of Zion, sleeveless tank top and overalls with boots.

"None, yet," Link said, "Oh, wait."

Link examined the screen with the scrolling Matrix code closer and saw something. "Kage and Valkyrie have made it to the exit. I'm dialing them now."

Link typed in a code and in a few moments, Valkyrie opened her eyes and let out a small gasp. Taurus went over to her chair, unplugged her from the machine and helped her sit up.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course," she replied. Getting up out of the chair, she went over to Link's controls, "Where are the others?"

"I'm getting Kage out now. But Morpheus and Ophani are…taking Industrial Ave. to the Macdonald Tunnel."

"That brings them too close to the police station!"

"Don't you think we know that? But you know Morpheus…"

"Right…"

At that moment, Kage woke up from the Matrix and Taurus went to help him out.

"We made contact with Magna, but we had to cut it short," Kage said as Taurus unplugged him and helped him out of the chair, "They found us."

"It won't be long now before they go after him," Valkyrie added, "We've been watching him for months. I'm just amazed they didn't go after him yet."

"They're waiting for the right moment. And unless Morpheus and Ophani eliminated the computer connection to Magna, they'll move on him in less than 24 hours."

"Which means we have even less time to get to him first," Link noted, "Why don't you guys go check on our other passengers? Valkyrie and I can get the others out on our own."

Taurus and Kage moved out of the control center to look after the other humans they had freed in the last few days. About six or seven fellow humans decided to reject the world of the Matrix for the Real World and the Metatron was responsible for getting them to Zion. While those two headed out, Valkyrie and Link watched the screen, awaiting the moment when Morpheus and Ophani would reach the exit and they could jack out of the Matrix.

_Morpheus, I don't really know what your plan is with Magna, _Link thought, _And I don't think we can get to him before they do, but I'll trust you on this. I just hope we're not too late to save him.

* * *

_

The sports car sped through the Macdonald Tunnel, which was fortunately empty at the time, being chased by two police vehicles little than five meters away from either side of the car. Ophani had readied her gun and began shooting at the police car on the right side of their vehicle. All she managed to do was put a few dents in the doors while the police continued driving, swerving in front of them, trying to get them to stop. After the next swerve, the police officers began to scream a silent scream as their 'code' was overridden and Agents took their place. Morpheus looked on his side of the car and saw that Agents had also taken over the police on his side.

"Hold on," Morpheus told Ophani as he put the gear into overdrive and sped off through the tunnel. They were gaining a few meters now as the Agents' police cars also began to speed up.

An Agent in the passenger seat on the left of the sports car rolled down the window, took out a gun and began firing at Morpheus. In reply, the captain took out his own gun and began firing at the Agent. Driving with one hand and shooting with another, Morpheus started to have a difficult time concentrating on both tasks.

Ophani, meanwhile, got off of her seat, squatted on it and prepared for the next gunshot. As the Agent driving the car on her side fired again, Ophani leapt into the air and tried to reach the top of the police car. She overshot, however, and before she hit the ground that was speeding past, she grabbed the left side of the top of the car with her right hand and tried desperately to climb back up. Her legs dangled helplessly over the right side of the car. The Agent saw her legs dangling and tried to ram the car into the tunnel wall in an attempt to crush her.

Ophani managed to get her other hand to reach the top of the car and pulled herself up just as the car smashed into the wall. A violent shook uncoordinated the girl briefly before she readied herself and leaned over the car, into the window that was open and looked the Agent square in the eye.

Pulling out her gun, she said, "Eat this."

Firing several shots into the car, the Agent managed to dodge each and every bullet while continuing to ram into the wall to shake her off. The ramming worked and Ophani was sent flying off the car. She impacted onto the hard ground and tumbled a few feet backwards.

"Ophani!" Morpheus called out as he stopped the car and the police cars continued to drive forward. Running out of the car, Morpheus headed to where she had landed. Gently, he helped her up asking, "Are you all right?"

Ophani coughed up some blood and rubbed her forehead, "Yeah, I'll be fine," she reassured Morpheus as they stood up together to face the police cars slowing, and then stopping. The Agents got out of the cars and ran toward the two rebels.

"Ophani, I want you to get out of here."

"No! I can take them!"

"I don't want to lose another crew member. I've lost too many…"

"Morpheus, please! I can fight them, I know I can!"

"Take that door over there," Morpheus nodded his head in the direction of the door, "It'll take you to the surface. Find the exit and get out of here."

"Why won't you let me fight them?"

"You're not strong enough yet. And if I go, you're the only one who can make contact with Magna and bring him into the Real World."

"Morpheus, let me fight!"

"Get out of the Matrix! That's an order, Ophani!"

Ophani clenched her fist in anger, "Dammit…"

Ophani ran off towards the door, picked its lock and escaped to the surface. Morpheus took his usual starting martial arts pose and proceeded to fight the three Agents single-handedly. Starting with the first Agent, Morpheus ducked, dodged and pushed him back. The second Agent, the captain began to take a more offensive position and forced him back. The third Agent, Morpheus mixed both offense and defense, forcing him back as well. He continued to do this for quite a few minutes as Ophani made her getaway to the exit.

* * *

Ophani awoke in the Real World, being unplugged by Valkyrie.

"Where's Morpheus?" Valkyrie asked.

"He covered for my escape. He's still in the tunnels."

"Dammit…"

"My feelings exactly," Ophani sympathized as the two women went over to Link's contols, "Is he out yet?"

"The Agents are pinning him down," Link told them.

"There's got to be some way we can help him! Send one of us back in!"

"I can't. You'd be too far from him and by the time you reach him, it may be too late."

"Can't you do something besides watching him get hammered!"

"I said, 'I can't'! He's on his own!"

"Wait…" Valkyrie interrupted, "You said you could load equipment in the Construct, right?"

"It is a loading program, but I don't see what use it is to us or Morpheus right now."

"If you could load an emergency exit, could you place it near Morpheus' location?"

Link thought it over. "Maybe…but I can't place it there with pinpoint accuracy. And it'd take a minute or two to get it there."

"Do it," Valkyrie ordered. Link complied and began typing like crazy on the computer.

"You can't do it fast enough, let me help," Ophani said as she ran down the corridor of the ship to her room and pulled something from underneath her pillow. Running back, she opened up a kind of laptop computer and plugged it into Link's system.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"If you can't place it with pinpoint accuracy, maybe I can. You just work on the emergency exit number; I'll place and load it."

"Fine with me."

After a minute of feverish typing, Link completed the emergency exit in the form of a phone booth.

"It's done!"

"Great! Now widen the network connection to include my computer, and I'll place it in the Construct to end up where Morpheus is."

Link widened the connection, and Ophani's computer joined Link's network. Immediately starting the Construct program, Ophani placed the emergency exit into it. Placing it where it should end up against a wall, Ophani began to load it in.

"Finished! Now all we can do is wait and pray that it's not too late…" Ophani said.

* * *

Morpheus had been putting up a defensive fight against the Agents as they began to back him into a wall. Now he had to begin to be more offensive as the fight continued. The Agents continued to punch and kick at the captain as Morpheus diminished his defensive style and began to go more on the offensive.

Cars began to rush into the Macdonald Tunnel and the fight now had to be fought between rushing cars. The four combatants dodged and fought as the cars passed them. Soon, they began to jump on top of the speeding cars and continued the fight as they leapt from car to car, exchanging punches and kicks in midair. With three against him, added to the now hopping across cars, Morpheus started to be at a disadvantage.

Ring, ring.

Morpheus momentarily turned to see a phone booth, ringing with a sense of urgency. Morpheus knew that booth was courtesy of Link and Ophani pooling their efforts together, and that it was his only way out of the Matrix. Continuing to leap from car to car, Morpheus fought off the Agents as he made his way to the exit. The Agents also spotted the booth and immediately tried to stop the captain from exiting. Morpheus continued to fight against the Agents and leap from car to car as he moved closer to the booth.

Ring, ring.

Just had to go a little further, and he'd be back in the Real World with his crew. Just had to fight off three Agents. Just had to leap on top of cars without getting run over. Just had to…

Ring, ring.

An Agent jumped onto the same car as Morpheus did and punched him right in the gut with great strength, sending the captain flying backwards. He landed against the wall with a hard 'THUD' and found that he was right next to the booth. Pulling himself up, Morpheus grabbed the ringing phone and lifted it off the receiver. An Agent landed next to him and Morpheus was forced to move right in the middle of the moving cars. He put the phone next to his ear just as a car proceeded to spot him and try to slow down.

There was a loud crunching sound as the car ran over the spot where Morpheus was.

* * *

Morpheus opened his eyes, gasping for breath as Ophani unplugged him from the Matrix.

"Welcome back, sir," Link said as he got up from the booth to welcome back Morpheus, "I was shaking on the edge of my seat when you fought in traffic against three Agents."

"That was too close," Valkyrie told him, "Why do you continually do this?"

"It's just his style. Believe me, it's his style."

"Is everyone out?" Morpheus asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Link told him, "Everyone's out."

"Do you think they found out about Magna?" Ophani asked.

"I'm not sure," Morpheus answered, "You did destroy the evidence back at the hotel, right?"

"Ah…uh…"

"Please tell me you severed the link to his computer," Link pleaded.

"The police jumped us before I got a chance."

"…dammit…"

"Then we're going for him. Tonight," Morpheus said firmly.

"Tonight…?" Ophani breathed silently, "We're going to get Jake, I mean Magna, tonight?"

"We have no other choice. But for now, let us replenish our bodies. In two hours, we're pulling Magna out of the Rabbit Hole."

The crew dispatched out of the control booth, but Link remained behind to watch over Magna in the Matrix.

"Hey, Ophani?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get me bowl of goop while you're in there?" Link asked.

"Sure. What size?"

"Small, maybe?"

"We only have one size," Ophani laughed as she left the control booth and started down the corridor to the mess hall.

* * *

Back in the hotel where the crew of the Metatron was trying to contact Magna, the three Agents that Morpheus and Ophani fought earlier were gathered around Ophani's station.

"We have the target," one Agent, Agent Brown said.

"The one that the Humans are looking for?" another Agent, Agent Johnathan asked.

"Yes," the final Agent replied, Agent Martin, "The target is named Jake Manson."

"He's staying with another Human and two Exiles," Agent Brown added.

"He goes by the hacker name: 'Magna'."

"The Humans seem to believe that Magna is the one who will help them free the rest of their race and stop us here in the Matrix."

"Foolish Humans," Agent Johnathan said, "He's only a child. What can a child do to stop us?"

"Nevertheless, we must get to him before the Humans do," Agent Brown said.

"It's our orders, after all," Agent Martin added.

"Then let us go greet 'Magna'," Agent Johnathan said with a slight evil smile to him.

With that the three Agents left the room, determined to find the boy called Jake Manson, who was also called 'Magna'. The boy who could possibly free the human race and put a stop the Machines' plan within the digital realm of the Matrix.


	3. The Shutting Door

**Program 3: The Shutting Door**

It was later in the evening, out in the Chinatown district of Mega City. Jake Manson, Resa Loewy, Sati and Seraph were eating in the park after ordering their food to go. Sati and Resa sat on the grass on a picnic blanket they brought while Seraph and Jake sat on a bench overlooking the water. The sun had almost finished setting as they continued eating.

Jake's mind, however, was not on the food he was eating. It was the question he had asked several hours before and knew that the answer to that question was also the answer to his dreams:

"What is the Matrix?"

"What?" Seraph asked.

Jake didn't know he had asked the question out loud. He turned to his mentor, put down his food and asked him directly. "Sensei, have you ever heard of 'the Matrix'?"

"…yes."

"Really?" Jake wondered. His teacher knew about the Matrix, but he never told Jake? Why? He asked, hoping for an answer, "What is the Matrix?"

"I can't tell you," he said simply.

"Why?" Jake asked.

"It's too…complicated."

"Complicated? The answer's too complicated? My dreams are complicated! My _life_ is complicated! You know the possible answer to my dreams and you won't tell me because it's complicated! I want an answer; I _deserve_ an answer, Seraph. Please, tell me. What is the Matrix?"

"…it's…very complicated…"

"…"

Both were silent for a while as they returned to eating their food. Jake was ticked at Seraph for not telling him about the Matrix. How long had his teacher held out on him about this? Maybe Sati would have answers.

_Yeah, that's it. Sati!_

Jake put down his food and went over to where Resa and Oracle sat. He took a seat on the blanket next to Resa.

"Magna!" Resa cried, "Isn't the sky pretty?" She pointed up as she talked.

"Yeah, Resa, beautiful," Jake said half-heartedly and turned to Oracle, "Sati, what is the Matrix?"

Oracle seemed to ignore his question and went on eating.

"Sati, what is the Matrix?" Jake repeated, "Seraph won't tell me. You have to know something about it since you're the 'Oracle'."

"I do know about it…" she said slowly, "Partly because I'm part of it…"

"What…? You're part of the Matrix?"

"In a way…so is Seraph and Resa…and even you…"

"Me…? How's that possible?"

"It just is."

"That's bull. I want a straight answer, Sati."

"I told you her name's not Sati, it's 'Oracle'!" Resa came in, reminding Jake of his mistake.

"I don't care anymore, Resa. Just give me an answer, Sati."

"If I did, we'd be here until the next year."

"I don't give a crap! Just tell me, and I'll listen! I want this answer!"

"I don't think I can explain it to you in a way you'd understand."

"I want the answer, Sati! I want it bad!" Jake screamed, "I can't take these dreams anymore! And now with the code showing up in the dojo, and that weird message on my computer, I can't stand it any longer! If you won't tell me the answers, I'll find someone who will!"

After screaming that out Magna ran away from the park, ignoring his 'family's' cries for him to come back.

_They've known all along and they didn't tell me? _Jake thought as he ran out into the street, _And I called them my family! Families don't keep secrets from each other! But then again we're not a real family, are we?_

He heard a loud screeching sound and realized he was standing right in the middle of the road. The tires of a speeding car screeched as it tried to stop before running over the boy. Jake looked like a deer caught in the headlights as the car came closer and closer to him. Without even thinking about it, Jake leapt over the car in a kind of somersault in midair. Time seemed to freeze as he did so. While he was moving quickly, everything else around him seemed to slow down.

_Wh-what! How the heck…?_

As he landed in a strange crouching position on his left leg and his right leg extended, Jake suddenly marveled at the feat he had just done. He had never done something like that in his martial arts training. He had never even come close! Why could he suddenly do something that astounding? People in the street stared at him in shock. He should've by all means died!

Jake snapped back to reality when he realized that he had just leapt over a police car. The doors opened to reveal three smartly dressed men with earplugs in their right ears. All had brown hair that was cut short, a pair of reflective sunglasses and were all dressed in attire that one would wear at a formal outing. One of them stepped forward.

"Mr. Manson," the one called Agent Johnathan began.

"Yeah, that's me," Jake nodded.

"Mr. Manson, we'd like you to come with us."

"Why?" Jake asked with a sense of dread in his voice. Something about these men just didn't feel right to him, especially the one talking to him.

"We'd like to ask you some questions about your computer life. Also, we'd like to ask you about your connections to Morpheus."

Morpheus. There was that name again.

"If I refuse?" Jake asked as he took a step back.

"You don't really have a choice in the matter," Agent Johnathan warned as he reached into his jacket, "You either come with us or…"

"Or what?"

"Accidents do happen, Mr. Manson," he said as he briefly revealed the gun from his dress jacket.

Jake suddenly realized that the man who was talking to him was the same man in his dream. The one that tried to swallow him whole. He couldn't go with that man! He'd probably kill Jake! Agent Johnathan took another step forward while Jake took another back.

"We wouldn't want to resort to extreme force. It gets too…messy…"

"Too bad for you, then." Jake bolted down the street, dodging people as he ran from the authorities.

Just perfect. They knew about his online activities! And they knew he was searching for Morpheus! All Jake knew was that he was supposed to run from them, and run like hell.

Running into an alley, Jake climbed a nearby fire escape ladder up a building. After climbing up to the roof, he turned to see the Agents hot on his tail. Looking around in desperation, Jake leapt to the closest roof next to him. He jumped several roofs close together and found a door leading downwards on one. Shooting through the door, Jake ran down the stairs and through a hallway. Taking a door labeled 'EXIT', Jake flew down a large flight of stairs to the bottom floor.

Rushing outside the building, he found Seraph waiting for him in the car they took to Chinatown. Oracle and Resa were inside too, in the back seat.

"Seraph! Agents are after me!" Jake cried.

"I know. Hop in," Seraph told him. Jake complied and the four drove off into the street. There seemed to be less traffic today in the district which was odd, but a good thing for Jake. It meant more time to put between him and the Agents after him.

"They know about my hacking! And one of them is one of the men in my dreams!" Jake panted, "Seraph, what's going on!"

"Here," Oracle said as she handed him a cell phone from her purse, "I knew this day would come eventually."

"What day? This has to do with the Matrix, right?"

"Yes."

"I want an answer, Sati! I need the answer, NOW!" Jake screamed.

At that moment, the phone in his hand began to ring.

"What now?"

"It's for you," Oracle said.

"Why? It's not important, is it? It's a call I can miss?"

"No…It's the call to your destiny, Magna."

"What…?"

"Answer it," Seraph instructed. Jake pressed the button to answer it. His hand was shaking, but he didn't know why. All he knew was that this call could change everything. It was the most important phone call of his life.

"But what about the Agents?" Jake asked.

"I'll take care of it. Just answer!"

Jake nervously gulped and put the phone to his face.

"Hello…?" he whispered.

"_Hello, Magna," a deep voice answered, "You know who I am?"_

Of course Jake knew. He had somehow known it all along.

"Morpheus?"

"_Yes. I've spent some time looking for you, Magna. Just as you have been looking for me. You're not really looking for me. You're looking for the answer to the question. You know which question."_

"What is the Matrix?"

"_Yes. I'd like to have more time to show you, but time is working against us right now."_

"Agents are coming after me. This is complete bullshit. I want a straight answer to why this is happening."

"_Are you willing to trust me?"_

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"_You cannot just automatically answer. You must mean it as well."_

Jake took a moment to calm himself down and put as much trust and feeling into his next word: "Yes."

"_Good. Take the next left you pass."_

"Morpheus says to turn left on the next intersection," Jake relayed to Seraph. Seraph did as Jake said.

"_Now go on until you reach Port Ave."_

"Go to Port Ave," Jake said as he looked in the rear view mirror and saw the police car right behind Seraph's car. Seraph sped up a bit and came to Port Ave.

"_Turn right and go straight for fifteen blocks."_

"Turn right, fifteen blocks straight."

"_There should be a small park inside. When you get there, get out of the car."_

"What?"

"_Get out of the car and go to the storehouse at the edge of the park. Seraph will take it from there."_

"What do you mean Seraph will take it from there?"

"_You said you'd trust me. Do so."_

Jake told Seraph what to do and Seraph complied. As soon as they reached the park, they got out of the car and ran towards the storehouse at the park's edge.

"Perfect. What now?" Jake asked.

"Leave that to me," Seraph said simply as he reached into his martial arts jacket and pulled out a ring of keys. Searching for the one he needed, Seraph took it and unlocked the storehouse door. Opening it, Jake saw another door in a room of white straight ahead.

"What the hell…?"

"Go. Now."

"Hurry, Resa, honey," Oracle told a frightened Resa as they hurried inside the door, "We don't have much time."

"Seraph? What's going on?" Jake questioned.

"They'll be time to explain soon. Just get in the door," Seraph said as the Agents got out of their car and rushed toward Seraph and Jake.

"But Sensei-"

"Go!"

Jake went through the door as his mentor instructed. Seraph followed and shut the door just as the Agents reached them. There was a click of the door and now Jake, Seraph, Oracle and Resa was now in an infinite hallway of doors. Jake gasped for breath, trying to shake everything that had just happened. It was all happening so fast Jake couldn't keep up. All because of his searching for Morpheus…

Jake suddenly remembered the phone and reached it up to his face again.

"Morpheus? Are you still there?" Jake asked.

"_Of course. I never left. Are you safe?"_

"Yeah, I think so. I'm…in an infinite white hallway of doors," Jake paused, looking around at his surroundings.

"_Seraph is still with you?"_

"Yeah, he's here."

"_May I speak with him?"_

Jake handed the phone to Seraph, who immediately took it and listened to Morpheus.

"Yes…yes…" Seraph said in-between gasps, "Of course…I understand…We'll be there shortly."

Seraph ended the call and gave the phone back to Oracle.

"Oracle, what's going on?" Resa asked with a hint of timidity and fear in her small voice, "I'm afraid…"

"It's okay, honey," Oracle leaned down to give Resa a hug, "It's all okay. We're safe for now."

"Why were those men after Magna?"

"It's because he has a…"

"A what?" Jake asked, "I have a what?"

"Follow me," Seraph said and the small group pushed forward through the hallway.

"Sati, what's going on? How long have you kept all this from me?"

"…" was Oracle's only reply.

"Sati…I want an answer…I deserve it…"

"You'll find out soon enough, Magna."

After roughly a minute of walking through the hall of doors, they stopped as Seraph searched for the right key. Finding it, he unlocked the door on the left of the group. Opening the door, Jake saw a strange hotel room that had a mysterious look to it. A painting or two hung from the wall as two chairs sat facing each other with only a coffee table with a glass of water on top separating them. Jake's group stepped through the door and after Seraph exited, he closed the door behind them. Jake looked around with the room in both awe and excitement. He knew that whatever would happen here was important.

Jake suddenly noticed a bald, black man standing at a window in a leather trench-coat. It was now total night outside and the city looked somewhat beautiful as the lights twinkled through its windows. Jake knew who it was before he laid eyes on him.

"Morpheus?"

The man turned around and smiled, walking forward to the group.

"Hello, Magna. We meet at last," he said simply.

At last, Jake was going to get the answers he deserved. "It's an honour, sir," Jake said as he shook his hand.

"No, the honour is mine. Come, sit," Morpheus said as they took their respective chairs. Jake looked back at Seraph, Oracle and Resa.

"What about them? Can they sit, too?"

"We're fine standing," Oracle told Jake. Jake turned back to face Morpheus.

"I imagine how confusing this is for you, Magna," Morpheus began, "How you're being tracked down by Agents, how you could leap over a car and seem to stop time as you moved, how everything you grew up to know is a lie."

"Lie?"

"Yes, lie. This world is all a lie, Magna. You know it. It's there in your mind, you've know it all along. You wanted to deny it, so you focused on martial arts. You wanted to know the truth, so you looked for me and became an astounding hacker. You wanted to find the answer, so you risked your life to find it. It is this feeling that the world is somehow wrong that has brought you to me."

"Partly…It's also the dreams…"

"The dreams that foretell your future."

"Future?"

"Yes. The dreams that were not supposed to exist, but do."

"How do you know this?"

"Because I've had similar dreams to yours, Magna. And we both dream about the same thing."

"The Matrix," Jake said simply.

Morpheus nodded. "Do you want to know what it is?"

"Yes. More than anything."

"Then look around you."

Jake looked around at the room, searching for something out of the ordinary. He found nothing.

"I don't see anything," Jake said.

"Look harder. Really focus on what you're looking at," Morpheus told him.

Jake took a look at the coffee table that was separating him from Morpheus. Focusing on what Morpheus said Jake stared at the coffee table, concentrating on it with all his sight. Leaning closer to the table, Jake suddenly saw it. The same green code that he saw in his dreams and earlier in the dojo. It was a giant stream of it, flowing in the shape of the table. Reaching out to touch it, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared to him. Jake looked up at Morpheus, in shock of what he saw.

"Yes, Magna," Morpheus told him, "But it's not just the coffee table. This entire room, this entire building, this entire city. It is all the same as you just saw now. Welcome to the Matrix."

"You've trained him well, old friend," Morpheus turned to face Seraph.

"He still has much to learn," Seraph replied, "Not much more from a program like me."

"Program?" Jake gasped, turning to face his teacher, "You're a program? As in a…"

"A computer program," Seraph nodded and gestured at Oracle, "So is she."

"What…? And Resa?"

"No, she's just like you, Magna."

"What are you talking about?" Resa asked. This conversation was way over the little girl's head, "I'm all confused."

"It's not important," Oracle reassured Resa, "It's just that we're talking to Magna."

Then, it suddenly hit Jake.

"If they're computer programs…then this is a…"

"Correct. A computer program. A simulation of the world you have grown up to know," Morpheus said, "To cover up the truth."

"Truth…?"

"That as soon as you were born, you were put into this prison. The worst kind of prison; one where you can't touch, or smell, or see, or taste, or hear. This is a prison for your mind so that they can farm you."

"_They? _Who are 'they'?"

"I imagine you feel a bit like Alice right now; tumbling down the Rabbit Hole, leaving everything you know behind," Morpheus seemed to ignore his question, "This world was created to be a kind of Wonderland, an escape from the bitter reality for those who cannot bear it."

Wonderland? Alice? Where was Morpheus going with this? And what about all Jake's questions about the Matrix? He decided to ask again about what it was, but before he could get a word out of his mouth Morpheus said:

"But that is not all."

"What else is there?" Jake asked.

"I cannot tell you anymore about it."

"Why?"

"Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself," Morpheus said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small silver case. Opening it, he tapped out two small objects and placed one in each hand, "Now, this is your last chance. After you make this choice, you cannot turn back."

"Take this blue pill," Morpheus said, opening up his right hand to reveal a blue pill, "This all ends as nothing but a bad dream. You wake up in bed and go back to what life you were living. You will again try to search for me, but I will not appear again."

"Take this red pill," Morpheus said, opening up his left hand to reveal a red pill, "You'll stay in Wonderland. And I will not tell you the truth. But I will show you how deep the Rabbit Hole goes."

Jake's head was beginning to swim. Here was the most important choice of his life: go back to what he knew which was a lie and remember none of it or learn the truth behind the Matrix and, possibly, his dreams. Either way he knew that his life would never be the same again, should he choose either pill.

"Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more. But I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it yourself," Morpheus warned him.

_This is too much, _he thought as he reached for the blue pill with a trembling hand. Taking it from Morpheus, Jake lifted it to his mouth. Then, he paused, thinking over what he was about to do. Looking down at the pill between his fingers, then back at what he considered his family, then back to the pill. He recalled what he had just learned. Morpheus was offering the truth, and nothing more. It was Jake's choice whether to accept that or not.

Walking over to Seraph and the others, he threw away the blue pill.

He suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't going to see them again for a long time.

He bent down to face the little girl. "Resa, I think I'm going to have to go away for a while."

"No, Magna. You can't go! We're family!" Resa cried, joining her hands with Jake's, Oracle's and Seraph's, "Me, you, Seraph and Oracle! One big happy family!"

"Resa…" Jake said, "I _have _to go away."

"I don't want you to," Resa said with tears in her eyes, "I want you to stay with me."

"I wish I could…" Jake said, giving her a hug which she returned, "I really do…"

"'Bye Magna…" she cried into his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Oracle and Seraph will take care of you," Jake assured her and then turned to Sati, "Won't you, Sati?"

"Of course we will," Oracle said, "But we'll miss you, Jake."

"Same here, Sati. Same here," Jake said as he hugged Sati. Then, after he was done hugging her, he turned to face Seraph. His mentor. His father. His friend.

"Sensei…I…" Jake began, but couldn't find the words to say goodbye to Seraph.

"I know," Seraph said, trying to keep his emotions down, "I'll miss you, too."

Jake could feel some tears escaping, but quickly wiped them away and bowed to his master. Seraph returned the bow before Jake turned to go back to the coffee table. Taking the red pill out of Morpheus' hand, Jake took it into his mouth and used the glass of water that was sitting on the table to wash it down.

"All right," Jake said to Morpheus, "Show me the truth. Show me the Matrix."

Morpheus smiled. "Follow me."

Morpheus got up from where he was and went over to a door on the far side of the room. Jake followed and as Morpheus opened the door, they both walked through it. Jake turned to face the ones who cared for him for so long. The ones who were sad to see him go and would be the only ones who would know just where he'd gone.

Resa was crying into Oracle's dress. Oracle was trying to comfort her while looking sad at Jake's departure herself. Seraph was keeping his composure, but one could sense an air of sadness around him. They were all so sad to seem him go.

"Don't worry," Morpheus told them as the door behind them began to close, "I'll take good care of him."

"I will come back," Jake stated as he swallowed to calm himself, trying to reassure his family or himself.

Or both.

The door continued to close, not only shutting itself on the ones close to him, but also everything he knew.

"I will come back," Jake repeated, louder than before.

Then, as the door shut, he said with great emotion and meaning:

"I will come back!"

With a 'CLICK', the door shut.


	4. World of the Real

**Program 4: World of the Real**

Jake turned from the door which had just shut to face his new environment. It was a small room not unlike the one he had just been in, except this one had a bunch of machinery in one corner of the room, including a single chair, mirror and telephone.

"Take your seat over there," Morpheus instructed Jake. The sixteen-year-old sat on the seat and waited nervously for what would happen next. Morpheus took out a phone and said, "All right, he's ready."

As soon as he said that, a group of people came through the door, all dressed in different kinds of black clothing. Jake could identify their nationality by their faces: a Japanese man, a Caucasian woman and a Caucasian girl about his age. They all took their places at different parts of the machine. The Caucasian girl started hooking Jake up to these pads that she placed on his skin.

"All this was back here?" Jake asked.

The girl nodded as she continued to hook him up. She had a gentle touch.

Morpheus started dialing something into the phone part of the machine while he spoke to the boy.

"The red pill is part of a trace program. It will halt your input/output signal while we find you in the Real World."

"Signal? You mean like an electrical signal?"

"Yes. That signal allows you to interact with the Matrix. We will stop the signal so we can pull you out of the Matrix and you can enter the true world."

"What's that mean?"

"We're just pulling the plug on you, that's all," the Japanese man translated.

"How long, Kage?" Morpheus asked.

"Just a couple more minutes."

"Valkyrie, tell Link we're about to proceed."

The woman nodded and pulled out her own phone, to talk to the person coordinating them in the Real World.

"So Morpheus, what is the Matrix?" Jake asked, trying hard not to pick at all the pads placed on him.

"You'll find out soon, just try to relax now," the girl answered for the captain. There was something familiar about her voice to Jake. He had heard it somewhere before…

Shaking his head, Jake turned to face the mirror to his side and saw that it had a small web-like crack in it. The longer Jake stared at it, the bigger the crack seemed to become. Then, it slowly started to fix itself before Jake's eyes.

"What the…?" Jake turned to see if anyone else noticed the mirror, but they were all still working on what they were doing. Turning back, he saw that the mirror was completely fixed. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Reaching out to feel the mirror, his hand actually went right through it! The mirror rippled as Jake moved his hand inside of it. It felt like heavy liquid. He didn't know mirrors could do something like this. Or maybe it was just a special mirror.

"Kage?"

"One more minute, Morpheus."

Feeling what was inside the mirror was both strange and cool to the teenage boy. Retracting his hand from it, he saw it continued to ripple for a few seconds before returning to normal. Looking to his hand, he saw a few drops of the mirror liquid on his hand.

That began to slowly grow and envelop his hand.

"Uh…Morpheus…what's going on?" Jake asked, both shocked and scared at the same time, "This isn't really happening, right? This isn't…"

"What? Real?" Morpheus finished for him, "Yes, it is real."

The mirror liquid had now enveloped his hand and was slowly starting to creep up his arm.

"Um…I changed my mind…I can live with the Matrix…" Jake said, beginning to panic.

"I'm starting the trace now," Kage reported.

"Link, you getting all this?" Valkyrie asked the person on the other end of the line.

"Cold…i-it's c-cold…" Jake shivered, the panic in his mind rising as the liquid began to cover his chest, "Why do I f-feel so weird inside…?"

"Jake, just stay calm," the teenage girl told him.

"H-how do you k-know my name?"

"It's not important right now."

"Something's wrong with his body chemistry," Kage reported, "I'm losing the trace signal."

"Try and reestablish it," Morpheus went over to Kage's workspace.

"Link, can you pick up Magna's signal from the Real World? We're losing him here," Valkyrie asked.

"It's r-really c-cold…" Magna gulped as the liquid continued to envelop his body. It had now taken control of the lower region and was working toward his legs.

"Link says something's disrupting Magna's signal," Valkyrie said.

"No shit," Kage growled, "I think the Agents are messing with his signal."

"Well, can't you do something?" the girl asked.

"What do you think I'm doing, Ophani?" Kage argued.

Ophani went over to hold Jake's hand while the mirror liquid continued to claim his body.

"Just hang on, Jake. You can make it," Ophani reassured him.

"I'm gonna try and insert a vaccine into Magna to try and get rid of the Agents."

"While he's trying to jack out? You know how risky that is?" Valkyrie questioned.

"Do it," Morpheus ordered.

"But Morpheus…"

"We are _not_ going to lose Magna to the Machines. Now, Kage."

Kage began typing like a maniac on the computer.

"How long before his signal stops, Ophani?"

"I don't know. Maybe less than a minute," Ophani replied.

"Inserting the vaccine into Magna…now!" Kage pressed a button on the computer and Magna felt a surge of pain inside him.

"GAAAHHH!"

"They're fighting it off! And Magna's got thirty seconds before he's jacked out!"

"Fight them, Jake. Fight them!" Ophani told him.

The mirror liquid was now working toward the only other places it hadn't claimed on Jake's body: his right arm and head.

_Why is this happening to me? Why, why, why to me! _Jake thought as he tried to force out whatever was happening inside his body while outside the liquid worked it's way up to his head.

"It's working! The vaccine's driving the Agents out!" Kage reported.

"Link has Magna's signal in the Real World," Valkyrie reported.

"Keep fighting, Jake! You're almost there!" Ophani told him. By now, the liquid had taken his arm and Ophani was forced to let go of him.

"G-g…." Jake started to scream.

"Something's weird about Magna now," Kage reported.

"We can't help him anymore. Now, it's up to him," Morpheus told him.

"Yeah, sir, but…"

"G-g-g-g…" The liquid was starting to cover Jake's face.

"Taurus is taking off," Valkyrie relayed Link's message.

"Try and relax now, Jake," Ophani said.

"Here he goes…" Morpheus simply said.

"GAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Jake let out a horrible scream as the metallic liquid flowed through his mouth and into his chest. It started out as a solid scream, then slowly dissolved into a gargle, then a strange buzzing sound, and then nothing.

* * *

His eyes slowly opened.

He was floating in some kind of weird, gooey red liquid. All over his body were cords that were inserted into him. And he felt a large tube in his nose and mouth. Lifting his arm to the top of the liquid, he felt it slowly break through and he could at last feel some air. But it felt extremely cold. Grabbing onto the side of something with the arm that was in the air, he pulled himself up and sat up inside what looked to be a pod.

Taking hold of the tube that was inside his nose and mouth, he slowly pulled it out. As soon as it was out, he coughed and hurled over the side of the pod. After he was finished feeling sick, he looked all over his body and really noticed the plugs. Trying to remove one, he found he couldn't and felt his face for any other plugs.

He felt a large one at the back of his skull.

Feeling it, he tried to pull that one out as well, but as he did he saw something that made him drop his hands.

There were other people in the pods with wires just as he had. They all looked so peaceful asleep. He looked up and down and saw pods all around him, all filled with people plugged into something in a gooey red pod. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of people exactly like him. The pods crackled with electricity as bolts of lightning seemed to be exchanged between them.

It made him sick to his stomach.

Looking up again, he saw that the sky was dark and stormy. By the looks of it, it had been that way for a long, long time.

_My God…what's going on here?_

A hovering machine came down to the pod in which the teenager was in. He stared at the machine before it seemed to pop out of it's shell with needles and spikes and God-knows-what sticking out the end. It's head looked at the boy with unconcerned interest. A claw popped out from the lower end of the machine and took hold of his neck. The boy's hands instantly went to claw, trying to pry it off of him.

Then, he felt a drilling pain in the back of his skull as the machine seemed to unscrew the cord inside his head. He tried to scream, but his voice wouldn't work. Gritting his teeth in pain, the cord came free of the teenager's skull and the mechanical claw holding his neck let him go. The machine returned to it's shell as it descended to the pods below.

Then, almost instantly, the plugs all over his body began to snap free. He struggled in pain as all the plugs on his legs, arms, chest and back came free and he was bleeding all over. There was a flushing sound as the back of the pod opened into a big hole, draining the liquid and the boy into itself.

Rushing down what looked to be a pipeline waterslide, the teen wondered just what was going on. What was with the pod people? What happened to the sky? Why did a machine unplug him? His mind dwelled on these questions for a few moments as the tube ended in open air and he splashed into a large dirty pool. Gasping for air as he reached the surface he tried to swim out, but his body couldn't support his weight in the water.

Then, several bright lights shone down out of nowhere as the boy looked up. A door of light seemed to open and a giant claw came to grab him and pull him upwards. A bright light? Pulling him upwards? The answer came to the boy.

He was dead. It was the only possible explanation.

The door closed behind him as the claw opened and set him down hard on a metallic floor. Several people dressed in ruined clothing came to attend to him. He shivered as they wrapped a blanket around him, trying to warm him up. They chatted all around him, but he couldn't focus in on a specific conversation.

His mind was a flurry of questions, drowning himself in strange thoughts. A man came over to him, and leaned over him. He looked different in a grey shirt and dark pants, but the boy knew who he was.

Morpheus.

"Magna…" Morpheus began, "Welcome to the Real World."

With those words ringing in his mind, Magna lost consciousness.

* * *

"That was too close, Morpheus," a feminine voice said.

"I know," Morpheus replied, "But it was worth it."

Magna opened his eyes and saw that Morpheus and Valkyrie were standing over him, talking.

"Wh…what are you saying…?" Magna's voice managed to pull out.

"It's all right, Magna," Morpheus told him, "You're safe now."

"I'm dead now…right?"

"It couldn't be farther from the truth."

Magna felt something within him. Leaning up his head slightly, he saw a thousand needles sticking out of his naked body. All of them were interlinked with each other, and were fed by wires from a computer.

"What's going on…?"

"Your muscles have atrophied. We need to rebuild them with electrical stimulation," Valkyrie replied.

"My eyes hurt…" Magna whispered as he let his head back down.

"You've never used them before…" Morpheus told him as he put a hand on the boy's forehead, "Don't worry. The answers are coming. Just rest for now."

Magna slipped back into sleep before Morpheus could finish speaking.

* * *

Magna's consciousness faded in and out all the time while the crew of the Metatron worked on recovering Magna for the next couple weeks. The next time he was fully awake was when he was completely recovered. His eyes opened and he sat up from where he was. A needle was plugged into a hole in his right arm where a plug now resided. Taking hold of the needle, the teenager slowly pulled it out of his arm. When it was completely out, he put it to the side and looked around at his new surroundings.

He was in what looked to be a person's quarters on a ship. Everything was made of metal, partly rusted at that. He was sitting on a bed at the back of the room. Around him was a lavatory, a couple of shelves, a kind of closet full of clothes and an overhanging light completed the room. It wasn't much, but it appeared to be his own room.

Looking at his body for plugs, he found that he was clothed in a grey long-sleeved shirt, a purple vest, dark pants and combat boots. Feeling his face he found that everything remained the same, except for his hair which had seemed to have finally started to slowly grow.

Then, he felt the plug at the back of his skull.

"Don't touch it!" a voice suddenly cried. Magna's hands dropped and he looked to the doorway in front of him to see a girl in a white shirt, dark jeans and boots. Her hair was black with the front bangs dangling on either side of her face died blonde. Magna suddenly realized it was the same girl he saw before he had been overtaken by the metallic liquid. The same girl he saw in news reports.

The same girl who he went to school with and had feelings for.

"Jenna…?" Magna asked her.

"I'm not Jenna anymore," the girl said, "My name's Ophani now."

"You look so…so…"

"Different?" Ophani finished as she stepped into Magna's room, "Yeah, being here can do that to you."

"Where am I?"

"I think he can explain that better than I can…" Ophani smiled as she stepped to the side and allowed Morpheus to come into the room.

"Hello, Magna," Morpheus greeted.

"Morpheus, what's going on? Where am I? What is this place?" Magna started to ask Morpheus all the questions he wanted to ask.

"This place is my ship, the 'Metatron'. And you are currently in the room that has been assigned to you as a member of my ship."

"What? I've been drafted?" Magna asked in disbelief.

"That is for you to decide. But I imagine now you have questions that need answering. Come, I'll show you what you want to know."

Exiting the room, Morpheus indicated that he wanted Magna to follow him. Magna got up and followed Morpheus down the corridor of the ship with Ophani behind him. As they walked, Morpheus began his explanation.

"In the Matrix, you believe it is the early 21st century, while in actuality it is the early 23rd century."

"I'm 200 years in the future?"

"Correct. We were enslaved by the artificial intelligence we designed to help us. We began a war that lasted a century around the midpoint of that time. Right now that war is over, but there are remnants of it that threaten to start it up again. Our job is to ensure that never happens," Morpheus said as he started to climb a ladder, followed by the teens, onto a horizontal deck, "This is the main deck. Our control centre. This is where we broadcast our signal to hack into the Matrix."

The control centre had a core, many chairs, a control booth and machinery hanging all around the group as they walked. People attending the machines stopped to gather around the group.

"This is my crew. You already know Ophani," Morpheus gestured to the girl behind Magna.

"Valkyrie, my lieutenant." The brown haired woman in dark clothes stepped forward.

"Kage." The Japanese man in clothes similar to Magna's nodded his head.

"The ones you haven't met are Link, our Operator." A black man in a dark sweater and pants waved at Magna. "Welcome aboard," Link shook Magna's hand.

"Taurus, our mechanic and pilot." A red-haired muscular man in overalls came to pat Magna on the back. The teenager felt as if he was run over by a truck merely by the touch.

"And our newest member, Blitz." A boy older than Magna with blonde hair and brown eyes wearing an outfit similar to Morpheus'. He grinned at Magna and patted him on the other shoulder.

"There are more people onboard, but they are just refugees traveling to Zion," Morpheus replied.

"Zion?" Magna asked.

"The city where we live," Ophani answered, "Deep underground."

"You'll see it soon enough," Valkyrie told him.

"You wanted to know what the Matrix is?" Morpheus asked, "Then I will show you. Ophani?"

Ophani nodded and took Magna's arm to lead him to one of the many chairs on the main deck. Getting into the chair, Magna looked around uncertainly for something to happen. Ophani strapped him in as Taurus took down the machinery behind the chair and Morpheus came over to Magna.

"Now try and relax," Morpheus warned him, "This may feel…a little weird."

Taurus slipped the plug into Magna's skull and Magna screamed at its feel. Taurus hit a button on a display screen above Magna's chair and Magna's screaming stopped as he relaxed into the chair.

* * *

He was nowhere.

Absolutely nowhere. That was the only way to describe where he was. A big white nothing. Everywhere Magna would turn would be nowhere. He couldn't move anywhere without really knowing where he was going. He could be going in one direction, but could really just be stuck in the same spot. It was too confusing for him to think about.

"Welcome to the Construct," Morpheus' voice came suddenly, forcing Magna to turn to try and find him, "This is our loading program. We can load anything we need here. Training simulations, weapons, vehicles, anything we need."

Morpheus was now dressed in a business suit with mirrored sunglasses. Walking over to him, Magna suddenly noticed his own clothes. He was now dressed in the same clothes he had worn when he jacked out of the Matrix for the first time. Not only that, but now his hair was back to normal. Running himself over with his hands, Magna was shocked to no end.

"Your appearance is now what we call 'residual self image'."

"…?"

"It is what your mind thinks you look like in the Matrix."

A pair of chairs and a television set suddenly appeared between Morpheus and Magna. The captain took his seat in the chair closest to him while Magna took the opposite.

"This is the world you know," Morpheus said as he took out a remote from his jacket and pointed it at the television, which started showing screens of the city Magna had grown up in, "The world where you were born into. The world where you were given an identity and the rest was up to you to decide. It is only a neurological interactive simulation called 'the Matrix'. A dream world built to keep the human race until the control of the Machines."

Magna suddenly remembered the 'power plant' he was in and all the humans alongside him. And the Machine that unplugged him from his pod. And the dark sky.

"This is the world as it is now."

Morpheus clicked a button and the television screen showed an image of a ruined city along a stormy skyline. A kind of desert was surrounding it on all sides. Before Magna could blink, the image on the TV screen had faded in around him and he and Morpheus were now sitting in the middle of the image.

"Welcome to the Desert of the Real," Morpheus told him.

Magna looked all around at the scene.

"This is the surface world as it is now. But it wasn't always like this. It was once like it is in the Matrix. About 200 years ago, all of the world was united in celebration when we gave birth to AI."

"Artificial Intelligence," Magna quickly realized.

"Right. One intelligence that created a whole race of intelligent Machines. Soon after we created them, they started a war with us. We don't know who struck first, but we know that we did that," Morpheus pointed upwards and Magna looked up at the stormy skies.

"We thought that by scorching the sky, we'd stop the Machines indefinitely because they were dependent on solar energy then. But they soon found another power source that was more abundant than the sun."

"Us," Magna said simply.

"Throughout history we've been dependant on machines for our survival," Morpheus let out a small laugh, "Fate is not without a sense of irony."

"…"

"There are fields. Infinite fields, Magna, where the Machines power source is grown and harvested. No one there has parents. No one there is born. They are grown."

"No…" Magna gasped.

"You don't believe it now, but know I'm right. You saw it for yourself, just as I did. Aren't you curious how none of them went hungry and looked perfectly healthy?"

"Kind of…"

"Whenever a Human dies in the Matrix, he or she is liquefied and fed to the living."

"What…?"

"I saw it for myself, Magna. I stood there after seeing it and realized the truth. The answer I was seeking. The answer you were seeking. What is the Matrix? Control," Morpheus said as he flicked off the TV and he and Magna were back in the white nowhere, "A computer generated dream world that exists only to turn a Human, you and me and so many others, into this."

Morpheus withdrew a single battery from the remote control.

Magna stared in horror as he took all the information in.

"It can't be…no…" Magna gasped.

"It isn't easy, Magna. But it's the truth. It's what you wanted."

"No!" Magna got out of the chair and backed away from Morpheus, "I didn't want any of this! No! Get me out of here! Get me out! I want out!"

* * *

Magna opened his eyes and struggled to get the plug out of his head.

"Get this thing out of me! NOW!"

"Hold still!" Taurus said as he held Magna back in his chair. Ophani helped him and Taurus removed the plug from Magna's head. As soon as he did, he left Magna alone and the teenager launched from the chair.

"Get me off this thing! I don't wanna be here! Stay away from me! All of you, stay away!" Magna screamed as he backed away from the group who gently started moving toward him, "I don't believe this! I don't frickin' believe this!"

"Magna, just relax!" Morpheus instructed as he went over to join the others as soon as he was unplugged.

"Relax? Relax while what? Everything I knew goes out the window! Live onboard a stupid ship underground while machines rule the world! Get jacked into a program where anything is created! I don't know why I even trusted you, Morpheus!" Magna screamed, "Let me off this bullshit of a ride! NOW!"

"Breathe, Magna, breathe!" Morpheus warned.

"Why did Seraph and Sati trust you people! You bastards! All of you are bastards!" Magna was backed into a corner as he struggled to try and get away from them. Steadying himself against a wall, he tried to look for a way to escape, "You can all die like bastards! You and your bullshit!"

"Magna, relax and breathe!" Morpheus and the crew inched closer to Magna.

"Stay away from me! I don't believe this…I don't believe this…I don't believe this…" Magna fell to his knees and clutched his stomach, "Don't come near me…don't co-"

At that, Magna threw up and fell unconscious on the floor of the main deck.


	5. Metatron

**Program 5: Metatron**

"I can't go back, can I?" Magna asked as he woke up from his recovering sleep on the bed in his quarters, sensing someone in the room with him.

"You can," Morpheus said, sitting across from him talking to the boy's back, "But now that you know the truth, do you really want to?"

"…"

"It is not as bad as you think. The war between Zion and the Machines is now over. It's been this way for almost seventeen years now. We can free people from the Matrix freely without fear of being attacked in the Real World."

"How's that possible?"

"Someone ended the war and brought peace to our people."

"Who…?"

"Neo," Morpheus said simply.

"Neo?"

"Yes. He was 'the One'. He started as simply as you did: born into the Matrix as a normal citizen. We freed him from that dream world and brought him to join the Nebuchadnezzar, my former ship. There were nine of us then; Neo, myself, Tank, Dozer, Mouse, Apoc, Switch, Cypher and Trinity."

"I trained Neo and taught him the truth of the Matrix," Morpheus continued, "For weeks on end I trained him to realize his full potential. Nearing the end of his training, I received word from the Oracle."

"Sati?"

"No. The original Oracle. The one before the one you know. We were to bring Neo to her to be tested to see if he was 'the One'. Afterwards, when we returned to the exit point, Cypher betrayed us and my crew were picked off by him one by one. I was captured by the government and tortured to divulge the code to Zion's Mainframe Computer. I was ready to crack when Neo and Trinity came to my rescue."

"We were all set to leave the Matrix again, when Agents jumped Neo and he was forced to flee to another exit. He was killed by one of them, Agent Smith, but he miraculously rose from the dead. That confirmed it. Neo was 'the One'. He became a valuable member of my crew and an irreplaceable friend."

"How did he end the war?" Magna asked.

"It was around the time when Link replaced Tank as the Operator of our ship. We rescued the Keymaker who was held by a dangerous program known as the Merovingian. We were pursued by Agents on the freeway until Neo rescued us from a fiery fate. Two other crews had come to the Matrix to bring us back to Zion, since we were preparing to make our stand against the Machines who were coming to wipe out Zion. The Keymaker laid out a grand plan to get us into a secret door that led to the Source, where Neo could end the war. The plan worked."

"And that was how the war ended?"

"No. Neo returned to the Matrix and we jacked out. He told us that if nothing was done in twenty-four hours, Zion would be destroyed. We were then attacked by Sentinels, who blew up my ship. Neo stopped them, but his mind was separated from his body. We were picked up by another ship and returned to the Matrix to consult the Oracle and she told us that the Merovingian was holding him captive in the world between."

"Trinity, Seraph and I…"

"Sensei? Sensei went with you?" Magna gasped at the mention of his teacher's name.

"Yes, he did. We fought through 'Hel' to get Neo back, and we were successful. When we returned to the Real World, Neo told us that he had to go to the Machine City, which back then was known as suicide. Captain Niobe of the Logos gave him her ship and Trinity went with him. That was the last we ever saw of them."

"Did you ever find out what happened to them?"

"Yes. When we arrived at Zion, we detonated an electromagnetic pulse bomb, or EMP, to destroy the Sentinels attacking our city. Shortly after, another wave came and we were without defense. We were ready to fight them again, even though we knew we would die."

"And then they left," Morpheus ended simply.

"They left?" Magna asked in disbelief, "They had you just where they wanted and they _left?_"

"Their leaving was a sign to us that Neo had finally ended the war between us and the Machines. They haven't come back to Zion since. We now have a kind of treaty with them that allows us to free minds from the Matrix without outside interference. But inside…" Morpheus paused and let out a small laugh, "Well, they never said anything about inside the Matrix."

This barely made any sense to Magna. How did Neo end the war? Did he die doing so? And just what the heck made Neo 'the One'?

"Neo was born to be 'the One'," Morpheus said. He seemed to sense what Magna was thinking, "He could stop bullets, he could fly, he single-handedly drove back Agents. In my mind, he could do anything he put his mind to. And I believe it is the same case…with you."

Magna turned to face Morpheus in shock after realizing what Morpheus seemed to be hinting at.

"You think that I'm…" Magna began.

"It's been a hard day for you, Magna," Morpheus got up from where he was sitting, "Get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll begin."

"Begin what?"

"Training."

Morpheus left the room and closed the door behind him and left Magna with many confused thoughts running through his mind.

* * *

"Hey…wake up." 

"…five more minutes, Sati…" Magna mumbled into his pillow and tried to swat away the hand that disturbed him from his sleep. He groggily opened one eye and found the ship's Operator's face looking back at him. He groaned as he yawned and pushed himself off of his pillow, "I was hoping this was a bad dream…"

"Don't we all…" Link sympathized, "I'm Link. Operator of the Metatron." Link extended his hand and Magna shook it.

"Why're you here?" Magna rubbed his eyes.

"I'm supposed to rouse you up for training. Morpheus sent me personally."

"Training?" Magna was fully awake now.

"Yeah. You're part of this crew now and you'll be assisting us inside the Matrix," the black man told the teenager, "Plus, we need to start developing your…gifts."

"Gifts? I have gifts now?"

"It should become clear during training," Link began to exit Magna's quarters, "We have to start right away. Come on."

Hesitantly, Magna followed Link to the control centre of the ship. Link strapped Magna into one of the empty chairs and inserted a plug into the back of his head; however, this one didn't lead him to the Construct, it was for loading information into the brain (but Magna didn't know this yet). A screen was hung overhead in front of the boy's eyes while Link took his place at the Operator's station.

"So…what's the training supposed to be?" Magna asked, feeling strange as a result of the plug in the back of his head and his being still being conscious in the Real World.

"You'll see. Now…what to start with?" Link started skimming through some of the disks around his station, looking for a suitable program to start Magna on, "We got Operation Training, Stamina Training, Combat Training…I can't decide. Tell you what," Link offered, "Why don't you pick which program to train in first."

"…" Magna thought it over, "Combat Training sounded interesting. I used to study martial arts with Sera-" Magna stopped, remembering his mentor and how he was nothing more than a computer program in a virtual world. He still couldn't believe that the one whom he looked up to was nothing more than a composition of data. Magna always thought of Seraph as some kind of superhuman.

Sometimes, Magna thought Seraph wasn't human at all.

_Not far from the truth, huh? _He thought silently to himself, wondering how Seraph and his surrogate family were back in the Matrix.

"So…Combat Training?" Link asked.

"Yeah. I'm a fighter, anyway," Magna was stirred from his thoughts.

"All right, hang on a minute," Link inserted the desired disk into the computer systems and selected a style of martial art for Magna to train in. The desired martial art was displayed on the screen in front of Magna. He read it over with a brief kind of excitement.

"Jujitsu," he looked at the screen in bemusement, "I'm going to learn…jujitsu?"

"He responded that way, too. Or from what I've heard," Link touched the screen that began the program and looked over Magna's brain patterns.

"_He_? You mean-" Magna began, but was cut off when the plug in his head made him thrust back in his chair. His eyes closed and his mind was flooded with the various techniques of jujitsu with his mind memorizing each one of them automatically. It was overwhelming. His body tensed up as the martial arts were embedded into his brain. All the movements and techniques that took years of perfecting by even the masters were now being engraved into his mind.

Then, all at once, it was over.

Magna's eyes shot open and he gasped for air.

"HOLY SHIT!"

"Watch your language, young man!" Link glanced at him from his station, "So, how'd you like it?"

"…thank you, sir, may I have another?" Magna replied, shocked from all the moves he had learned just in a few moments. It was too amazing. He needed more.

"Why of course. Our next dish on the menu is Tae Kwon Do. We hope you enjoy." Link switched the martial art to the next one on the disk and loaded the techniques into Magna's mind. Again, Magna tensed up as all the information was placed into his brain and after it was over, he relaxed and his eyes opened.

"It's like some kind of drug," Magna gasped after the Tae Kwon Do finished loading into him, "Some kind of wonderful, ass-kicking, mind shattering drug."

"You like it?"

"Oh, very much, thank you."

"Would you like some more?"

"Hell, yes!"

* * *

Several hours later, Magna was unplugged and Link released him from the chair. It was a shame that Link stopped the training somewhere after Kickboxing, but it couldn't be helped. He promised Magna that there'd be more martial arts training later. It gave Magna something to look forward to. 

"I think it's time you had some breakfast," Link said, "The Mess Hall is this way."

Link led the way to the Mess Hall where he and Magna were met with the sight of Blitz, Kage and Taurus eating what appeared to look to Magna oatmeal that was drowned in milk. Link went over to three overhanging nozzles, took two bowls/tins and spoons from nearby, squeezed the nozzle so that the oatmeal milk mess drooped into the bowls and handed one to Magna before he sat down.

"There's no better breakfast in the Real World," Link told him before digging into his own slop.

"Yeah, except for everything in the Matrix," Blitz noted as he swallowed another scoop of his mix. The older boy with blonde hair glanced at Magna as he took a seat next to Taurus.

"It's not real," Kage told Blitz, "Nothing in there is. You think you ate something, so your brain told you that you ate something. That's all the Matrix is. It came as a shock to me, too, but I got over it. You will too."

"Better than this slop," he muttered under his breath, "Runny eggs are better than this."

Magna took a scoop of his food and stared at it. It looked so weird.

"You need your strength, so eat up," Taurus said to Magna, "Unless you're not going to eat that…"

"No…I'll try it…" Magna closed his eyes, put the spoon in his mouth, chewed the 'food' and swallowed it. It tasted so strange. Kind of like the runny eggs that Blitz mentioned. He turned to Taurus, "Why do I need to eat this? Isn't there anything else onboard?"

"No, there's not. At least, not yet. That bowl right there has everything your body needs to grow strong. How do you think I these?" Taurus showed off the muscles on his right arm to Magna.

"I was going to guess working out, but now I think I'm wrong…"

"So, where are Morpheus and the girls?" Link asked the others.

"Morpheus and Valkyrie are tending to the passengers below deck. I haven't seen Ophani all day," Kage answered.

Magna looked up from Taurus' muscles to Kage as soon as he mentioned Ophani's name.

"Where do you think she is?" Magna asked. He had wondered where she was in-between his conscious times during his training. He'd seen everyone pass by him except her.

"Interested in Ophani?" Link asked.

"Ah…n-not really…" Magna lied.

"So why's your face turning red?" Blitz stood up to put his bowl away. Magna put a hand to his face and he could feel it becoming very warm.

"No reason. It just, um, does this sometimes."

"_Right_…"

Magna suddenly got a weird feeling in his stomach. He needed to go. NOW.

"I'm done," Magna stood up suddenly and headed for the door rather quickly, "Taurus, you can have the rest if you want."

"Cool. But where are you going?"

"I need to use the can. I never got a chance to relieve myself since I came here," Magna said quickly before leaving for his room, "Later."

Magna tried to remember the way from the Mess Hall to his quarters. Left or right? Taking a chance, he turned left and dashed up the steps to where he hoped was his room. Looking up and down the corridor, he tried to look for the door to his room, but none of them looked right.

_Wrong way! _He slapped himself before heading in the opposite direction as fast as he could. Could he hold it in before he reached his room? Rushing through the hall, he spotted the door to his room and dashed into it as quickly as he could. Undoing his pants, he locked the door as best he could before he sat down immediately onto the toilet and began to take care of business.

"Whew…" Magna sighed in relief as his body purged itself of waste, "I didn't think I'd make it…"

He wished he'd brought something to read as he sat there relieving himself for what seemed like a long time, but he had enough to think about. Seraph worked with Morpheus? An underground city called Zion? Some kind of 'Messiah' called Neo? These questions burned in his mind while he tried to sort out everything he learned.

_Humanity had been trod underfoot by intelligent computers almost two centuries ago. The computers needed power to survive and they found that the human body is the best source of power. To keep humanity from realizing this, the Matrix was created to have them believe they were leading ordinary lives. Some humans broke free of the Matrix and began a war with the Machines while increasing their numbers in an underground city. And about seventeen years ago, Neo ended the war and there is now peace between Humans and Machines._

Sounded simple enough to him when he thought about it.

_But if Neo ended the war, how come ships like this are trying to ensure the war doesn't start back up again?_

Now it didn't seem so simple.

_Why were the Machines trying to stop Humans from liberating more of their number inside the Matrix? Why am I being 'trained' to help the crew? And why did Morpheus believe that Neo's case might be the same as mine? Man, you think you got it figured out, but then something comes along to complicate things._

Magna decided to abandon thinking about the current world and focused instead on finishing his business. Occasionally, his mind would drift back to sorting everything about this new world out before he shook out of it and finished what he was primarily doing. Now all he needed was something to wipe with. Looking around the room, he asked himself a new question:

_Do they have toilet paper in the future?_

There was a knock at the door of his room.

"Don't come in!" Magna cried, "Who is it?"

"It's Valkyrie. Morpheus would like to see you," the voice came from the other side in a strict matter-of-fact way, "What are you doing in there?"

"Going to the washroom! Is there any toilet paper in here?"

"No…" Valkyrie replied somewhat hesitantly.

"Then what am I supposed to wipe with!"

"There should be some synthetic cloths near the sink."

"Yeah, I see them," Magna looked towards the sink, "Hey, wait. Does this ship have hot water and soap?"

"No hot water, but there is soap," Valkyrie sounded like she wanted to leave very quickly.

"Okay, thanks! I'll be out in a minute!" Magna could hear Valkyrie's footsteps leading away from the door before he even finished talking.

_Wonder what her problem is?_ Magna wondered as he reached for a synthetic cloth.

* * *

After taking care of business, Magna was taken below deck by Kage to find Morpheus. Below the crew quarters, control centre, mess hall and hospital wing on the main deck was the lower deck where the refugees that were recently freed from the Matrix were staying. There was also a large cargo bay and maintenance station close by. Magna passed by a sea of unfamiliar faces, all draped in blankets with looks of fear, anxiousness and depression on their faces. They all watched him as he and Kage walked by looking for Morpheus. 

Magna caught sight of Ophani taking some food to a young girl. She shivered underneath her blanket and tried to keep warm as Ophani laid some food beside her started showing her how to eat. Magna had wanted to see her ever since he broke into the Real World. He started to say something to her, but Kage pulled Magna away from her.

"You can talk later," Kage said firmly as he knocked on a door at the end of the corridor they had traveled through.

"Yes?" came a voice from the other side.

"Morpheus. It's Kage. I've brought Magna."

"Good. Show him in."

Kage opened the door and motioned for Magna to walk in. The boy growled at not being able to talk to Ophani, but entered and looked around the room. It was slightly better constructed than Magna's room. In terms of furniture it was exactly the same as Magna's, but it had a desk next to the bed and a couple of pictures sat on top. The steel was of better quality and at the desk sat Morpheus staring at a picture.

"Come, sit," Morpheus requested and Magna came to rest on the bed next to the desk. A thought struck Magna after looking around the room once again.

"This is your room?" Magna asked.

"Yes."

"Why is the Captain's Quarters down here instead of on the main deck?"

"I'd like to live among my people," Morpheus said simply.

"…who's that?" Magna asked, staring at a picture the captain was holding in his hand. It was of Morpheus and a black woman smiling together as they held each other in their arms.

Morpheus flipped the picture onto his desk face down.

"You saw them on the way here, did you?" Morpheus asked Magna.

"Who?"

"The other people."

"Yes," Magna responded, "Yes, I saw them."

"They are the people who rejected the Matrix for the Real World. Taking reality over simulation. Some of them are strong-willed, others are curious about the truth, and others still have exceptional gifts. Because of those qualities, they were able to break free of the Matrix and be reborn into this world. Like Blitz and Ophani."

"They volunteered for my crew after they awakened," Morpheus continued, "Ophani is an exceptional programmer while Blitz is an astounding fighter. She will stay on my crew while he goes on to the Zion Academy. She will stay because her skills are invaluable and while she has much to learn, her resolve is limitless. He will go to the Academy because he has too much inside him that conflicts with his potential and after he emerges, he will be a better man. They both chose their own path as you must do now."

"Me?" Magna asked.

Morpheus nodded. "No one can choose a path for anyone else. They must choose it themselves. The journey may be hard and long, but the destination will be worth it; if you choose the right path."

"The right path…?"

"Those people you met will have their paths. But Magna, your path may be the toughest to walk. There will be twists and turns, there will be bumps and dead ends, there will be broken roads and unfinished signs. But I want you to know that you won't have to walk that path feeling alone. We will always be here if you need us."

"…" Magna thought the words over. He then remembered the real reason he had left the Matrix and everything he knew.

"What about my dreams?"

"Your dreams?" Morpheus asked.

"The ones that foretold my destiny or something. That's the only reason I came here. You're supposed to tell me what the dreams mean. I don't care about any path I have to walk, I want to know what they mean! You promised to tell me!" Magna demanded.

"Those dreams are what started your path. Where your path leads now is up to you," Morpheus replied.

"And where exactly do I find out what they mean?"

"To be honest, I don't entirely know."

"But you partially know."

"Not even then."

"…so I'm stuck here?" Magna hung onto those words, realizing his predicament.

"Not entirely. When we return to Zion, I will consult the Council. Perhaps then you can find some answers."

"What do I do until then?"

"You will continue training. We have room for a few more passengers, then we'll be on our way."

"Where exactly is Zion? I keep hearing about it, but I don't know anything," Magna took another look at the facedown picture on the desk before looking at Morpheus.

"Zion is our city. It is deep within the earth near the core. Because of our freeing more and more people from the Matrix, we are now looking into creating a second city for humanity."

"Will the Machines allow it?"

"That is what we are currently debating."

"Do you have a name yet?"

"Not yet," Morpheus shook his head.

"Well, I hope you find it soon," Magna stood up and started to leave before remembering that he was under the command of a military leader of sorts. He turned back to Morpheus, "Can I leave now, sir?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, sir," Magna nodded before leaving the room. He found Kage standing outside, waiting for him, "Were you waiting this whole time?"

"Yes. I'm supposed to start training you in the different programs. We all are."

"You mean…I'm going to learn from all of you?" Magna asked as they started to walk down the now empty corridor.

"Morpheus did say that we'd be here if you need us."

"You were eavesdropping on us?"

"He said the same thing to me when I first came out of the Matrix."

He said that to everyone? And here Magna was beginning to think he was something special. He snorted a little. "And he laid the whole 'choose your own path' speech on you, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe any of it?" Magna questioned skeptically as they started walking up the stairs to the main deck.

Kage turned to Magna and looked straight into his eyes.

"Do you?"

Kage continued walking up the stairs, leaving Magna to think for a moment before he followed him.


	6. First Glimpse

**Program 6: First Glimpse**

Days had passed since Morpheus spoke with Magna about the path he must walk. Since then, he had been through Stamina Training with Kage, Weapons Training with Valkyrie; who Magna still couldn't find out what her problem was, and the Dojo Simulation with Morpheus. While it was clear that he still had a lot to learn, Magna was a fast learner.

The major problem with his training was that he still had trouble letting go of the programmed reality he had become so accustomed to. This would cause some conflict with his progress. For example, Magna would be sparring with Morpheus in the Dojo Simulation and just when Magna began to get the upper hand, his body would begin to tire out from keeping up with the Captain. This usually led Morpheus to defeating Magna time and again.

"Free Your Mind," was the first rule of being an Operative inside the Matrix.

He still needed to learn that.

It was around what passed for dinnertime onboard the Metatron that Magna found himself eating with the entire crew. He had taken a seat between Link and Ophani and was once again devouring his 'bowl of goop', as Blitz had dubbed the food they were given. He had gotten used to the food, but it still tasted weird to him.

"So how much more room do we have onboard for passengers?" Kage asked Morpheus, who was sitting across from him.

"Two or three more. Then, we'll return to Zion."

"How soon can we get them onboard?" Taurus wondered.

"A couple more days. I'm following a lead right now and will pick him up tonight. I will need Valkyrie and Kage to go with me."

"I'm going, too," Ophani said suddenly.

"No, Ophani. I need you stay here and look after the passengers," Morpheus told her before turning to Magna, "And you will continue training when we get back."

"What about tonight?" Magna asked, "You said that we'd spar again right after dinner."

"The person we must retrieve from the Matrix has postponed those plans."

"So…I'm home free tonight?"

"I'm sure Taurus can help you find something to do," Valkyrie cut in.

"Yeah, come to think of it," Taurus thought for a moment, "The communications from the cockpit aren't working that well. You can help me with it as soon as you're finished."

"Crap…" Magna cursed under his breath.

"Blitz, help Ophani with the passengers," Valkyrie told the older boy.

"Yes, ma-" Blitz started.

"I can do that!" Magna interrupted quickly and received stares from everyone at the table, including Ophani, who was a bit embarrassed, and Blitz, who was a bit annoyed.

"You can?" Taurus asked.

"Yeah…that is…" Magna stared down at the table, trying to avoid the crew's gazes while feeling his cheeks flush red, "If Blitz'll switch with me. He could help Taurus and I could help Ophani…"

"Blitz?" Morpheus turned to him.

"…fine. I was better with technology than people anyway," Blitz snorted.

"All right. Magna and Ophani will oversee our passengers and Blitz and Taurus will work on the cockpit circuitry."

Everyone returned to eating his or her meal in silence after Morpheus' command. There were no more words at the table following this.

Underneath the main deck, in the refugees' quarters, Magna and Ophani were serving some dinner to the other people who had been freed from the Matrix. Magna had been waiting to talk to Ophani for days, but had never got the chance to. This was as good a time as any to talk to the only other person he knew from the Matrix.

"S-so…" Magna stuttered. Ophani looked up from where she had given a young boy some food and turned to face Magna.

"So what…?" Ophani asked.

"So…uh…" Magna tried to find words to talk with, since this was the first time he was talking one-on-one with the girl he liked, "How do you…get people to escape from the Matrix?"

"You went through it, so you should know," Ophani took another bowl of the standard food from a tray she had brought down and gave it to an elderly woman, "You take the red pill, we trace your signal in the power plant, the Machines let you go down the drain and we pull you up from the sewers. Everyone here went through that."

"Yeah…so…" Magna tried to find something else to talk about, "What's with Blitz? Does he have it in for me or something?"

"Oh? Don't mind him," Ophani laughed, "He's not a very social person. You get used to him."

_Yeah, right! _Magna thought while he looked at Ophani's face. _I'll get used to him when the world ends!_

_Wait…didn't it already end, then?_

"…and Valkyrie?" Magna asked.

"I don't really know that much about her. Just that Morpheus selected her as his lieutenant when he got this ship," Ophani answered, "Why do you want to know about everybody?"

"I just like to know what's going on," Magna defended as he took a seat next to the boy Ophani served, "I guess that's how I ended up here."

"I think that's the last of the bowls," Ophani looked back at the tray, "Why don't we go check how Morpheus and the other crewmembers are doing?"

The two crew members stood up and looked back at the refugees in the room, making sure everyone was served. They went back up the stairs to the main deck and walked down the corridor to the Control Centre.

"What about you?" Magna asked as they walked, "How'd you end up here?"

Ophani remained silent.

"Do you miss them…? Your family in the Matrix?"

"…"

"I miss them. Sati…Resa…Seraph-sensei…" Magna stopped for a moment, "I wish I could go back and see them again. I promised to come back to them. But now that I know the truth about what they are, I don't know if I could face them again."

"…really?" Ophani wondered.

"I just wanted to know about my dreams. I didn't want to be drafted into some kind of peacekeeping crew."

"You have dreams?"

"Doesn't everyone? But mine are different. Morpheus told me that my dreams foretell my future."

"What future?"

"If I'd have know that, I wouldn't be here now, would I?"

"…"

"Sensei started me on the path. He taught me how to hack, taught me all these martial arts…"

"What kind of martial arts?" Ophani asked, suddenly interested.

"Oh, you know…Tae Kwon Do, Karate…that kind of stuff. I don't wanna brag or nothing, but…I got some moves."

"What kind of moves? Are any of them good?"

"'Are any of them good'?" Magna took this as an insult, "I'm a master of the staff. My hands move quicker than the eye. I could knock you unconscious five times before you hit the ground. Yeah, I got some moves." he bluffed. Not that it wasn't true, he just wasn't quite at that level yet.

"Oh, really?" Ophani circled around him as they reached the Control Centre where Link was monitoring Morpheus, Valkyrie and Kage, "Well, I've been taught some martial arts by Morpheus himself. I hear he's almost as good as Neo was. If Morpheus didn't insist that I didn't fight, I could take out an Agent."

"Well, I think he had the right idea," Magna grinned, "Not letting you fight, I mean. You say you _could _take out an Agent."

"I can!" Ophani defended, "I'll even show you right now!"

"I don't think so. I could never fight a girl--HEY!" Ophani swiftly used her foot to flop Magna onto the floor of the ship.

"Don't be so gentlemanly with me," Ophani's face loomed over Magna's, "You're just afraid you'd lose."

"No, I'm not!" Magna growled. There was no way he'd let a girl outdo him! "In fact, I'll fight you tomorrow before my training with Morpheus begins!"

"Time and program?" Ophani asked.

"06:00 hours! The Dojo Simulation!"

"I look forward to it," Ophani grinned before going over to Link, "Link, did you get all that?"

"No, what'd I miss?" Link continued to stare at the screens where he monitored the crew inside the Matrix.

"We need you to hook me and Magna up to the Dojo Simulation tomorrow at 06:00 hours. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks. So, how are they doing?" Ophani looked over Link's shoulder to the computer screens.

Magna left the room after Ophani issued her challenge to him. He needed to focus in his quarters. He was not going to let a girl beat him, even if she was someone he liked. Besides, he needed to prove himself to the others. Just because he was the new guy didn't mean that he was a pushover!

_I'll show her! I'll show everybody!

* * *

_

The Dojo Simulation was remarkably similar to the dojo where Magna and Seraph had trained in back in the Matrix. The only things that were different were the scrolls with Asian writing littering the walls and the floor that looked more like an arena battleground.

Magna took a look around the computer-generated dojo before looking at his own clothes. They were a variation of his usual training outfit. The white jacket, the black tank top, the comfortable pants and Chinese shoes with white socks. He looked like somebody out of an old Asian martial-arts movie. He ran his hand through his hair to make sure it was all there before noticing that his white jacket had a symbol over the heart and on the back. A kanji of some kind that he couldn't read. Trying to get accustomed to the reality in his mind, Magna started warming up by doing some stretches.

Ophani hadn't shown up yet. Magna arrived to the Control Centre first with Link after waking him up. Link was still tired, but he agreed to run the simulation for Magna and Ophani.

_Why'd I agree to this? _Magna thought as he began throwing some punches into the air, _What am I doing? Trying to impress her or beat her? Stubborn is what I am. I never could back down from a challenge. But I need to train early anyway, so I guess this is for the best. Plus, I get to see how good Jenna…er, Ophani, is._

Just when he finished thinking this, Ophani jacked into the simulation. Magna glanced over to her on the other side of the dojo and let his mouth hang open.

She had a traditional uniform on, again something that looked like something out of a martial-arts movie. A sleeveless blue Chinese formal jacket, dark pants and shoes decorated her figure. Her hair was tied back into a kind of ponytail and she was gazing at him admirably. She was…beautiful.

At least, to him.

"I didn't know you'd look so…cute…in a uniform," Ophani smiled.

Magna felt a blush creeping over his face and realised his mouth was hanging open. Forcing it closed, he tried to look elsewhere other than his opponent.

"Yeah, well…I never really had any girls comment on it before…" Magna's eyes darted between Ophani and his own uniform, "So…you wanna…get started?"

"It's what we came here for, isn't it?" she asked as she bowed to Magna. He did likewise and the two took starting positions.

"I'm warning you now…I'm really good…" Magna tried to focus on sparring with her and not…well, whatever he was thinking about her in his mind.

"So am I. Are you ready for me, Jake?"

"…bring it."

Before he knew it, she had come over to him and began throwing punches at him. He blocked every one before she used her leg to sweep him onto the ground. She was about to punch him, but he rolled over and got back up to his feet and began punching her. She blocked his punches and started moving backwards, giving Magna some more room to fight. His curled fists took the shape of knife-hands and he tried to strike her vital areas. She continued to block before pushing him away and leaping into the air. Time slowed for a moment as she sailed towards him, her feet outstretched into a kick. Her outstretched leg, the left, kicked towards Magna, but he managed to dodge it by moving to the right.

But that was before she twisted her right leg to deliver the blow.

Ophani kicked Magna underneath the chin and it sent him flying backwards. Landing hard, he looked back to face her. She landed with both feet perfectly like an Olympic gymnast.

"Told you I was good," Ophani raised her eyebrows at him, flirtatiously.

He moved his hand in front of his face to catch a cough he let out and found that his hand was sprayed with blood.

"Oh, it's on now," Magna swirled his feet to propel him back up and took a fighting stance, "I was holding back before."

"I told you not to do that. I can't stand that," Ophani said, taking her starting stance again, "Anytime you're ready…"

"Now it's for real. Let's go!" Magna rushed forward, engaging Ophani.

His hands were now moving like lightening, his focus on beating the girl whom kicked him in the face. His hands were firmly positioned into knife-hands as he looked over Ophani's body for the vital spots he needed. Again, she blocked all his blows before he spotted a spot underneath her chest. Striking it with enough force, Ophani was forced to grasp her chest before Magna stroke another vital spot on her back. Ophani's left arm was now rendered useless as Magna continued to strike the spots until she collapsed onto her legs on the floor.

"Fast hands, like I said," Magna backed off, letting himself relax a bit.

"The vital points on the body," Ophani noted, "Shut the system down upon striking. Why didn't I think of that?"

"The brain won't let you get back up for a while. It's over."

Ophani raised her eyebrows at him. "Is it?"

To Magna's surprise, she closed her eyes and slowly began to pick herself up. _Wh-what…! She can't do that…!_

"Don't you remember any of the lessons, Jake?" Ophani said as she stood back up, "It's all in your head. 'Free your mind'."

"Round Two, I take it…?" Magna quickly came back into a combative stance.

"If you can handle it," Ophani winked at him. She seemed perfectly fine.

"The question is if you can handle it," Magna smiled for the first time since his arrival in the Real World.

* * *

"Geez, are they fighting or flirting?" 

"I'm thinking both."

Unbeknownst to either Magna or Ophani, the rest of the crew of the Metatron had woken up early to eat breakfast before beginning their duties. When they noticed Link, Magna and Ophani weren't in their rooms when they were called for breakfast, they all headed to the Control Centre. It was there that they now found themselves watching the two teenagers fight in the Dojo Simulation. They had been watching them for almost half an hour now.

"They're pretty good for kids," Link noted as he watched the brain patterns on one of the screens.

"I knew that Magna was trained by Seraph, but I didn't know he'd be _this _good…" Kage added.

"Such a high level of combat for both of them…" Taurus watched in awe as Magna and Ophani circled the room fighting in close-range combat.

"…she's good," Valkyrie looked from the screens to Ophani's unconscious body in one of the chairs surrounding the controls.

"Well, what else would you expect from someone like her?" Blitz told her, "Once she sets her mind to something, she can't be convinced otherwise."

Morpheus remained silent as he watched the fight. They were both very determined and very talented. He was glad he picked the two of them to join his crew. Once their training was complete, they'd be truly formidable opponents. Some of the best Operatives that Zion would have in a long time. Maybe even a match for him or Niobe…

Morpheus shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the female Captain.

"Link, you know what to do," Morpheus nodded at Link and he nodded back. The Captain went over to his own chair while Taurus followed and prepared Morpheus' seat.

"Do you have to go in now?" Blitz argued, "It's just getting good!"

"All good things must come to an end," Morpheus replied as he sat back in his chair.

* * *

The boy and girl had traded blows for a while now, and there were signs of slowing from both of them. Neither of them would give up, however, while the other was still going. 

"You're pretty good," Ophani huffed out after blocking another of Magna's punches.

"You're not too bad yourself," Magna took his fist back and blocked another of Ophani's punches. He judged by the amount of time that they had sparred that quite some time had passed. He broke off from his close-range combat with her. "Thanks for the warm-up."

"You think I'm through with you?" Ophani asked challengingly.

"Morpheus will be here soon. I needed to warm-up before training anyway."

"Come on. Let's keep fighting," Ophani pleaded.

"I'm being gentlemanly and breaking it off. And besides, you're a girl," Magna added, "Sati always told me to treat girls nicely. Going around beating them up doesn't qualify as nice, I don't think."

"You're afraid you'd lose to me, aren't you?"

"N-No! I just…don't want to hurt you…" Magna's face was going an even deeper shade of red after the workout, "I couldn't…stand seeing you like that…"

"So…" Ophani started to walk toward Magna, "You wouldn't want to hurt me?"

"N-not really…"

"Because you couldn't stand seeing me hurt…"

"Uh-huh…"

"Well, that's sweet of you…" Ophani said as she wrapped her arms around Magna and stared into his eyes, "It's been a long time since I've heard someone say that to me."

"You're going to flip me onto my back again, aren't you?" Magna inquired, trying not to get lost in her hazel eyes, "I'm not _that _stupid."

"I wasn't thinking of it. I was going to do this, though…" Ophani leaned in closer to Magna's face.

"Uh…ah…" Magna wasn't quite sure what to do as Ophani got closer to him. He never did have too much experience dealing with girls. He never really thought when it came to them, and he'd usually end up making a fool of himself in front of them. What would he do with the girl he had in front of her now? Make an idiot of himself again? Or maybe…

He swallowed hard before leaning towards Ophani's approaching lips. Both of their eyes were closed as they just abandoned all thought and let their feelings take over for them. This was bound to be something neither of them would forget. They were just a centimetre apart from engaging in their first kiss when…

"Interesting technique, Magna."

The two teens turned their faces to look at Morpheus, dressed in a dark gi, looking on with detached amusement.

"Though I'm not quite sure that would work against Agents."

Magna pulled apart from Ophani, somewhat reluctantly. "How long were you watching, sir?"

"Around the beginning."

"It's not what you think!" Magna began, "She was helping me to…"

"We know."

"_We_, sir?" Ophani came in.

"The rest of the crew."

_Uh-oh. Busted._ Magna's and Ophani's thoughts were one.

"I'm both pleased to see that you fight at such an advanced level," Morpheus walked towards them, "But keep in mind that this is no time for you two to be flirting. You are both still in-training as soldiers of Zion. On the battlefield, you must put your personal feelings aside and do what must be done."

"…is that what happened between you and Captain Niobe, sir?" Ophani asked.

Morpheus kept silent for a moment before looking up to the ceiling. Shaking himself out of bad memories, he opened his mouth in a command. "Link, activate the Jump Program."

The Dojo disappeared from the three members of the Metatron, as did the clothes they were wearing. Magna found himself hiding his lower region from the Captain and Ophani, who were both equally naked. Staring at Ophani, in all her unclothed beauty, he tried to clear his head of the impure images he had just started thinking about her. He shut his eyes and before he knew it, there was a large 'WHOOSH' sound, like a strong wind. He opened his eyes and saw that he was now on top of a large building, fully clothed again.

_This must be the Jump Program._ Magna though as he looked over himself, and he found that he was wearing the same clothes he wore when he exited the Matrix: dark purple shirt with black jeans, a grey sweatshirt and blue running shoes; but in addition to this, he also wore the same type of sunglasses as his mentor, Seraph. Ophani was dressed how she was when she contacted him for the first time while Morpheus wore a black trench coat, a dark business suit that looked like it had just been pressed and shined dark shoes.

"What the…? What's with the clothes change?" Magna took off his new sunglasses and examined them.

"Do not focus on what you see. Instead, focus on overcoming what you see," Morpheus told him, "Let go of what you know about everything around you. Nothing here is real. Just concentrate on that one thought and you can do anything you set yourself to."

"You didn't answer my question," Magna said hesitantly.

"I did. 'Free Your Mind'."

After saying this, Morpheus took a running start and leapt from the building on which they were on to a nearby building, with seemingly no effort at all.

"Whoa." Magna looked from the captain on the next building back to Ophani in shock, "How'd he do that? That's impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible here," Ophani smiled.

"Could I do that, too?"

"Of course."

"Really? How?"

"It's easy, just listen to what I say," Ophani leaned over to his ear and Magna listened intently to what she would say next, "Here it is: Free Your Mind."

She winked back at him before running off as well and leapt to the next building, landing next to Morpheus.

"Ugh, why does everyone keep saying that? I never get that!" Magna growled as he went over to the side of the building and looked down into the city with it's traffic, large buildings and unaware people. He gulped as he looked from his building to the other two Zionites' building. He judged the distance between the two as being quite a fair bit away.

Not to mention, the busy streets below being a long way down.

* * *

"He won't make it," Link said as he monitored the three people inside the Training Program. 

"He might," Kage noted.

"He won't," Valkyrie said, "Everyone falls the first time."

"But…he still could make it, couldn't he?" Taurus asked.

"No one gets the First Jump right. Not even Neo did."

"Someone like that is bound to fail," Blitz came in, "Just look at him."

"I heard something from Ghost once. He said, 'You never know'."

"And that means what for us?" Link asked.

"It means that just because everyone before Magna has failed doesn't necessarily mean that he will fail."

"He's bound to. History is going to repeat itself, it always does."

"Not if we learn from our mistakes."

"Well, we'll see in a minute, 'cause here he goes…" Taurus finished the conversation. All five members watched Link's screens as Magna prepared to attempt the First Jump.

* * *

_All right, stay calm. Remember what Seraph taught you. Remember what Morpheus said. Nothing is real. Overcome what you see. Free your mind…this is nuts._

Magna's eyes were shut as he concentrated on what he was about to do. Everyone else in the program had failed, why shouldn't he? It was ludicrous. He was supposed to have some special gift that no one else had, but thus far, it hadn't shown itself. He wished Seraph or Oracle or Resa were here with him. They could help him. But they weren't, so he was on his own. He concentrated on the phrase and pictured Seraph in his place, jumping over the buildings with ease. Magna wanted to do that like his sensei, too.

_Free my mind…free my mind…free my mind…_

His eyes snapped open as he started running forward. The sound of the air rushing past him seemed to taunt him, but he kept repeating his little mantra as he approached the end of the building. He could almost see Seraph in his mind's eye right beside him.

_Free your mind…_

Something seemed to change as the wind seemed to grow quieter than before.

_Free your mind…_

Time seemed to slow as Magna's foot hit the edge of the railing.

_Free…your…MIND…!_

Magna launched himself off the building.

The crewmembers of the Metatron all watched as Magna jumped through the sky. He was gaining the same height that Morpheus and Ophani had when they jumped a few moments ago. Time seemed to slow as Magna sailed forward, focused on overcoming what he knew.

_He has to fall._ Valkyrie saw as Magna neared the falling point for almost all of the people.

_He's going to fail right here. _Link thought as Magna reached the falling point…and passed it!

_He's still going!_ Taurus couldn't believe what had happened.

_He's halfway there! _Blitz remembered his own attempt and failure at not even reaching halfway.

_Like Ghost said, "You never know." _Kage let himself smile as Magna passed the halfway point.

_Could he surpass Neo? _Morpheus held his breath as Magna came closer.

_Jake… _Ophani gasped as Magna had almost cleared the gap between buildings.

_Free your mind… _Magna hadn't let go of that phrase as he flew. By now, Magna was now almost equal height as the building. He was almost there! He was going to surpass all of them! He could feel it! Boy, was Ophani going to be impressed!

But, gravity was slowly taking its effect on Magna again as he began to doubt himself secretly. The building was now rising up past the boy as he started to fall.

_No, no! Not now! I'm almost there! Just a little farther!_

But Magna could feel he was going down. He lost the image of Seraph jumping beside him. And now, he was falling. He'd fail like all the rest.

_I knew it. _All of the Metatron crew thought this in one form or another as Magna fell toward the ground.

_NO! I will…not…FAIL! _Magna screamed in his thoughts.

At that moment, something stirred in Magna. His eyes seemed to contract and green code rained within them in place of a pair of blue irises and black pupils. A blast of wind came from him, as everything seemed to freeze in time for a moment. A cushion of air came up suddenly and caught the teenager, who didn't waste a moment in using it to jump from. He rocketed upwards with his right arm outstretched and landed on the building much like Morpheus and Ophani did.

_Holy…! _The crewmembers' thoughts chorused as one as Magna's eyes seemed to revert to normal and he collapsed in front of the captain and the hacker.

* * *

Magna opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of the entire crew applauding in front of him. They were all impressed, with the exception of Blitz, who was trying to hide his own amazement. Magna was feeling very light-headed after exiting the Construct. He held his head to try and right himself. 

"How'd you do that!" Link asked.

"Do what?" Magna gasped as Ophani unplugged him from the machine.

"That thing you just did in the Jump Program!"

"What did I do?"

"You jumped, fell, then flew."

"I've never seen anyone do something like that," Valkyrie said.

"Ghost was right. You never really know, hmm?" Kage asked.

"Who's Ghost?"

"Never mind that! You're the first person to clear the Jump Program on the first try!" Ophani said excitedly, "Everyone else failed! Even Neo!"

"_Neo_ failed?"

"Don't you remember anything that just happened?" Ophani asked.

"Remember what?" Magna was confused after exiting the Construct, "What are you all talking about?"

Blitz laughed. "He completed the Jump Program and he can't even remember it? What kind of 'Messiah' is that?"

"Blitz!" Ophani hissed to silence him.

"I knew I was right when we found you, Magna," Morpheus said as the group parted to reveal him, smiling, "I knew it."

"Knew what? Could somebody clue me in here?" Magna asked as he got out of the chair.

"Now, if there are any more unbelievers…" Morpheus let his sentence hang as the crew all turned to each other to try and ask the others to explain, but found no one could even talk. Instead, they all turned back to Magna, then to Morpheus. They all shook their heads.

Magna's stomach interrupted the silence that followed. "Man, I'm hungry. Is it time for breakfast yet?"

"I'll take you to the Mess Hall. Come on," Ophani said as the two of them started down the hall.

_Why is everything such a blur? _Magna thought as he walked into the Mess Hall, still feeling very light-headed, _What were the others talking about? What am I to Morpheus? What did I do in the Training Programs? What is this strange sensation I feel inside myself now? What is this weird 'gift' I'm supposed to have? Why am I even here at all?_

Magna's stomach growled again.

_Agh, I'm hungry…_


End file.
